Vehicular vision system

ABSTRACT

A vehicular vision system includes a video display screen disposed behind a transflective mirror reflector of an electrochromic mirror reflective element of an interior rearview mirror assembly. Image data captured by a rearward-viewing camera is provided to the mirror assembly as digital signals carried by a coaxial cable. Electronic circuitry of the mirror assembly includes (i) auto dimming circuitry and (ii) video processing circuitry. The video display screen (i) displays at a left display region video images derived from captured image data to display a scene occurring in a left side lane, (ii) displays at a right display region video images derived from captured image data to display a scene occurring in a right side lane and (iii) displays at a middle display region video images derived from captured image data to display a scene occurring rearward of the vehicle in the lane the equipped vehicle is travelling in.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 17/655,384, filed Mar. 18, 2022, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,794,651,which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/247,697,filed Dec. 21, 2020, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,285,877, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/413,694, filed May16, 2019, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,875,455, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 16/105,162, filed Aug. 20, 2018, now U.S.Pat. No. 10,300,856, which is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/784,228, filed Oct. 16, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,053,012,which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/719,446,filed May 22, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,789,821, which is a continuationof U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/393,384, filed Feb. 29, 2012, nowU.S. Pat. No. 9,041,806, which is a 371 U.S. national phase filing ofPCT Application No. PCT/US10/47256, filed Aug. 31, 2010, which claimsthe benefit of U.S. provisional applications, Ser. No. 61/351,513, filedJun. 4, 2010, and Ser. No. 61/238,862, filed Sep. 1, 2009, which arehereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field of vision systemsand display systems for vehicles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Road safety issues associated with side lane blind spots are known.Drivers often attempt or execute a side lane change maneuver unaware ofthe presence of another vehicle overtaking the vehicle in the immediateadjacent side lane. The driver of the vehicle usually is not able toview the overtaking vehicle in the driver's side view mirror due to therestricted field of view provided by that side view mirror. Theovertaking vehicle, not being visible to the driver using his or herside view mirror and not yet visible in the driver's peripheral vision,is essentially in a side lane blind spot. Numerous mirror-basedsolutions to such blind spot concerns have been suggested, such asdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,315,419, which is hereby incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety. It has also been suggested to placemultiple cameras around and about the vehicle to provide an improvedblind spot detection and alert system, such as described in U.S. Pat.Nos. 5,289,321; 5,670,935 and/or 7,111,968, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Such prior systemsinvolve mirrors and/or multiple cameras and multiple displays, and thusrequire complexity and cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an imaging or vision system, with a videodisplay screen (such as a video display screen disposed at or in or nearthe interior rearview mirror assembly of the vehicle) that displaysvideo images captured by a camera or image sensor of the vehicle, suchas a rearward facing camera of a reverse backup-aid rear vision systempresent on the vehicle for capturing images of the rear blind zone areaimmediately rearward and to the sides of the vehicle for assisting thedriver of the equipped vehicle in making a reversing maneuver. Inaccordance with the present invention, the video display screen viewableto the driver of the vehicle (preferably a video mirror display)displays video images captured by the rearward-facing video cameraduring a reversing maneuver to provide real-time video of a rearwardblind zone for monitoring potential hazards present to the rear (such aschildren or obstacles or the like) as part of a backup-assistfunctionality when the driver is executing a reverse back-up maneuver,and the same video display screen selectively displays during forwarddriving situations a portion or portions of the video images captured bythe same or common rearward-facing video camera while the vehicle isbeing driven forward, in order to provide a real-time video displayprincipally of a side lane adjacent to the vehicle so as to provide aside lane blind spot monitoring/lane change aid functionality, and suchfunctionality may be responsive to the driver of the equipped vehicleactuating a turn signal indicator or responsive to machine visiondetection of another vehicle in or at or approaching a side blind spotof the equipped vehicle or responsive to a lane departure warning systemor the like.

The rear backup video camera captures video image data for processing bya video image processor, and the video image data comprises at least twoimage data sets that encompass a respective zone or region of the fieldof view of the rear backup camera. For example, the video image data setmay comprise a left zone image data set and a right zone image data set,with the left zone image data set encompassing video images of anothervehicle approaching from the rear of and/or overtaking the equippedvehicle in the left side lane, and with the right zone image data setencompassing video images of another vehicle approaching from the rearand/or overtaking the equipped vehicle in the right side lane. The videoimages captured in or derived from the image data sets are selectivelydisplayed on the video display screen, and may be displayed on one ormore portions or regions of the video display screen.

For example, the video display screen may be operable or addressable inat least two (and optionally and preferably at least three) addressableor operable or actuatable zones or regions (such as a left region, acenter region and a right region) to display respective portions of therearward images captured by the rear backup camera at the rear of theequipped vehicle. The two or three (or more) zones or regions of thevideo display screen may have similar or different cross dimensionsdepending on the particular application and desired display options ofthe vision and display system. Optionally, the video display screen(either at a zone or region that is currently displaying video images orat one of the zones or regions that is not currently displaying videoimages) may display an iconistic representation of the equipped vehicle(either as an addition/enhancement to or a replacement for the real timevideo display of video images captured by the rear camera) and/or analert or warning indication/signal to further enhance the driver'scognitive recognition and awareness of the displayed scene at the mirrorassembly or at another display location in the vehicle.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a vehicular visionsystem includes a rearward facing camera at a rear portion of a vehicleand a video display screen operable to display video images captured bythe rearward facing camera (such as in response to the driver of thevehicle shifting a gear actuator to a reverse gear position to initiatea reversing maneuver), preferably utilizing the full field of view ofthe rearward facing camera to display rearward images during a reversingmaneuver of the vehicle. The system includes a video processor orcontrol that processes video image data captured by the rearward facingcamera to provide an enhancement or selective display or selectivecropping or zooming or adaptation of a display of a blind spot forviewing by the driver of the vehicle. The system, when the vehicle isdriving in a forward direction of travel, may be operable to detect thepresence of another vehicle at the side of and/or rearward of theequipped vehicle, such as via machine vision utilizing an videoprocessor and/or image processor capable of object detection, and isoperable to display a video image of the area or region rearward andsideward of the equipped vehicle at which the other vehicle is detected,to automatically alert the driver of the equipped vehicle of thepresence of the other vehicle.

Optionally, the video display screen may display video images of thelocal region or area rearward and sideward of the equipped vehicle at aportion of the video display screen and may display an iconistic displayor alert or graphic overlay at that portion of the video display screenand/or at another portion of the same or common video display screen toalert the driver of the equipped vehicle and to enhance the driver'scognitive awareness of the purpose of the video images being displayedby the video display screen and to enhance the driver's situationalawareness of vehicles approaching or in a side lane blind spot when thedriver is contemplating and/or is executing a lane change maneuver intothat adjacent side lane. For example, if the system detects anothervehicle at or approaching to the rear and left side of the equippedvehicle (or if the driver actuates a turn signal indicating a lanechange into that side lane), the video display screen may display a leftside region of the captured rearward image at a left side or portion ofthe video display screen and may display an iconistic representation ofa vehicle to the left and rear of a subject vehicle at the right side ofthe video display screen, to enhance the driver's cognitive awarenessand understanding of the displayed image.

Optionally, and preferably, the video display screen may be disposed ator in an interior rearview mirror assembly of the vehicle and behind amirror reflective element. Optionally, the video display screen, whenoperated to display images or information, may be viewable through atransflective mirror reflector of a reflective element of the mirrorassembly. The portion of the video display screen that displays thevideo images (such as via backlighting of a liquid crystal video displayor the like) may be viewable through the transflective mirror reflectorwhile the portion of the video display that does not display videoimages may be dark (i.e., may be non-emitting) or otherwisenon-displaying or not actuated, or may display non-video information,such as an iconistic representation of what may be happening about thevehicle or a graphic overlay or the like. The driver viewing the mirrorat the non-video displaying portion of the video display screen views areflected image as reflected by the transflective mirror reflector ofthe mirror reflective element other than where non-video information maybe being displayed, thus maximizing the rear vision capability of theinterior mirror while the driver is driving down the road or highway. Inthis regard, having a high contrast ratio for the video display deviceused is beneficial and is preferred. The vision and display system ofthe present invention thus provides a blind spot side lane display oralert at the interior rearview mirror assembly without substantiallyinterfering with the driver's rearward field of view at the mirrorreflective element of the interior rearview mirror assembly.

In applications where the video display is part of a transflectiveinterior video mirror assembly, the presence of the video screen is atleast substantially covert when not displaying video or otherinformation, and so when the vehicle is driven in a forward direction,the video mirror display of side blind spot video images is on-demandand displays when needed/appropriate to the driver's driving task; andwhen the video display is not displaying information or images, the fullmirror reflectance functionality is available from the full surface areaof the transflective mirror reflector that the video display is disposedbehind and that emits through when activated to display information.

Optionally, the video processor of the system may include a decoder thatdecodes a NTSC signal from the rearward facing camera or image sensor ofthe vehicle. The decoder may have a microprocessor that is operable tocontrol the video display screen, such that the images are processed anddisplayed with a common microprocessor, thereby obviating the need for aseparate microprocessor for the video display screen. The decoder may beoperable to at least provide on screen display capability, provide videodecoding, at least partially control dimming of the transflectiveelectrochromic mirror reflective element, and at least partially controlthe intensity of the video display screen.

Therefore, the vision system or display system of the present inventionprovides a combined rear vision system or blind zone display or backupassist system and a side lane blind spot vision system or lane changeassist system that utilizes a single or common rearward facing camera atthe rear of the vehicle, and preferably provides display at a single orcommon video display of the vehicle in a manner that is cognitivelyrecognizable, appreciable and usable by the driver of the equippedvehicle. The image data captured by the rearward facing camera may beprocessed to display rearward images of the scene behind the vehiclewhen the vehicle is shifted into reverse and during a reversingmaneuver, and the video image data captured by the rearward facingcamera may be processed and cropped or manipulated to display rearwardand sideward video images of the scene rearward and sideward of theequipped vehicle to alert the driver of the presence of another vehicleat or in or approaching the equipped vehicle at that side of thevehicle, such as responsive to the driver of the equipped vehicleactuating a turn signal indicator to change lanes while driving along aroad or responsive to detection of another vehicle at the side or rearor at or near or approaching a side blind spot area of the equippedvehicle. Graphics, icons and/or other overlays or computer generatedindicia may be generated and co-displayed with the captured video imageor portion of the captured video image in a manner that is accretive toand that enhances the driver's situational awareness to the rear and tothe side of the equipped vehicle.

The rearward facing camera thus serves a dual function (backup assistand blind spot or lane change assist) in that, when the driver isexecuting a reversing maneuver, the rearward facing camera and itsassociated driver-viewable video display provides a rear backup reverseaid functionality, presenting to the driver a wide angle rearward andsideward view (such as preferably at least about 130 degrees, morepreferably at least about 170 degrees and more preferably at least about180 degrees) of a blind zone to the rear and to the sides of the vehiclewhile reversing. When the equipped vehicle is not reversing and isnormally driven forward, the same or common rear camera and the same orcommon associated driver-viewable video display selectively presentsvideo images (preferably accompanied by appropriate graphic overlays oricons that enhance the driver's cognitive situational awareness) thatshow to the driver what may be present or not present in or at a sideblind spot area of the vehicle or rearwardly approaching the side regionof the vehicle when the driver is contemplating and/or executing a sidelane maneuver. Such selective display may be triggered by the likes ofthe driver's selection of a turn signal or by machine vision detectionof another vehicle at or in or approaching the side blind spot area(such as detected by a lane departure warning system of the vehicle orsuch as detected by a blind spot detection system of the vehicle or suchas by processing video images captured by the rearward facing camera orother sensor) so as to object detect in a manner known in the imageprocessing arts.

These and other objects, advantages, purposes and features of thepresent invention will become apparent upon review of the followingspecification in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic of a vehicle equipped with the rear vision anddisplay system in accordance with the present invention, showing thefield of view of the rearward facing camera of the vehicle;

FIG. 1A is a block diagram of the components of the rear vision anddisplay system of FIG. 1 ;

FIGS. 2-5 are schematics of the equipped vehicle showing the rearwardand sideward field of view of the rearward facing camera as anothervehicle approaches and passes the equipped vehicle at the left side ofthe equipped vehicle;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a mirror assembly incorporating a video displayscreen having left and right display zones or regions in accordance withthe present invention;

FIGS. 7-10 are schematics of the equipped vehicle showing the rearwardand sideward field of view of the rearward facing camera as anothervehicle approaches and passes the equipped vehicle at the right side ofthe equipped vehicle;

FIG. 11A is a plan view of a display of the equipped vehicle, showingthe rearward left side region of the captured image and showing aniconistic representation of another vehicle at the left side andrearward of the equipped vehicle;

FIG. 11B is a plan view of a display of the equipped vehicle, showingthe rearward right side region of the captured image and showing aniconistic representation of another vehicle at the right side andrearward of the equipped vehicle;

FIG. 12 is a schematic of the equipped vehicle showing the rearward andsideward fields of view of the rearward facing camera as other vehiclesapproach and pass the equipped vehicle at each side of the equippedvehicle;

FIG. 13 is a plan view of a display of the equipped vehicle, showing alarger iconistic representation of a vehicle at the rearward left sideregion and showing a blind spot icon to the right of the iconisticrepresentation;

FIG. 14 is a plan view of a display of the equipped vehicle, showing alarger iconistic representation of a vehicle at the rearward right sideregion and showing a blind spot icon to the left of the iconisticrepresentation;

FIG. 15 a plan view of the display of FIG. 6 or 13 , showing a graphicoverlay at the displayed image to enhance the driver's cognitiveawareness of the location of and distance to the other vehicle at theside and rearward of the equipped vehicle;

FIG. 16 is a plan view of a mirror assembly incorporating a videodisplay screen having left, middle and right display zones or regions inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a schematic of the equipped vehicle showing the rearward andsideward field of view of the rearward facing camera as another vehicleapproaches and passes the equipped vehicle at the left side of theequipped vehicle;

FIG. 18 is a plan view of the mirror and display of FIG. 16 , showingthe rearward left side region of the captured image at the left displayzone or region of the display and showing an iconistic representation ofthe subject vehicle and an alert at the middle display zone or region ofthe display;

FIG. 19A is a schematic representation of the equipped vehicle showingthe rearward field of view provided by a driver side exterior rearviewmirror;

FIG. 19B is a plan view of the driver side exterior rearview mirror ofthe equipped vehicle, showing the rearward field of view of the driverof the vehicle that encompasses a rearward approaching vehicle;

FIG. 20 is a plan view of the mirror and display of FIG. 16 , showingthe rearward captured image and showing a graphic overlay to assist thedriver during a reversing maneuver of the equipped vehicle;

FIG. 21A is a plan view of the mirror and display of the presentinvention, showing the left side region of the captured image at a leftdisplay zone or region of the display and showing an arrow at the leftdisplay zone or region to indicate to the driver that the displayedimage is of a vehicle in the left side lane;

FIG. 21B is a plan view of the mirror and display of the presentinvention, showing the right side region of the captured image at a leftdisplay zone or region of the display and showing an arrow at the leftdisplay zone or region to indicate to the driver that the displayedimage is of a vehicle in the right side lane;

FIG. 22 is a block diagram of the components of another rear vision anddisplay system in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 23 is a iconistic representation of common road signs for theUnited States;

FIGS. 24 and 25 are plan views of a mirror assembly displaying signs inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 26 is a block diagram of a video encoder suitable for use in theimaging and display system of the present invention;

FIG. 27 is a block diagram of an imaging and display system inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 28 is another block diagram of an imaging and display system inaccordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 29 is a schematic of a vehicular mirror and accessory system inaccordance with the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawings and the illustrative embodiments depictedtherein, a vehicular vision system 10 includes a rearward facing videocamera or imaging sensor 12 disposed at a rear portion 14 a of a vehicle14, a video display screen 16 disposed at an interior cabin of thevehicle and at or near the windshield 14 b of the vehicle, and a videoprocessor 18 for processing image data captured by the rearward facingcamera 12 (FIGS. 1 and 1A). The video display screen 16 is responsive tothe video processor 18 (which may be operable to crop the video images,may be operable for machine vision objection detection, may be operablefor electronic image distortion reduction and/or may be operable forgraphic overlay generation) and is operable to display video imagescaptured by the rearward facing camera 12 for viewing by the driver ofthe vehicle when the driver is normally operating the vehicle. The videodisplay screen 16 may, responsive to the driver of the vehicle shiftingthe gear actuator of the vehicle to a reverse gear position to initiatea reversing maneuver, display video images captured by the rearwardfacing camera 12 of the scene occurring behind the vehicle to assist thedriver in making a reversing maneuver, as discussed below. Suchreversing or rear backup cameras are typically provided with awide-angle rearward field of view (preferably at least about 130degrees, more preferably at least about 170 degrees and more preferablyat least about 180 degrees, such as about 185 degrees such as shown inFIG. 1 ) so as to image objects and/or persons and/or animalsimmediately to the rear of and a distance behind the equipped vehicleand also in the side lane areas sideward of and rearward of the equippedvehicle. Thus, the wide angle field of view of the rearward facingcamera encompasses the side lane regions and the rearward facing cameracaptures images of objects or other vehicles that are at or approachingthe equipped vehicle in the side lanes adjacent to the equipped vehicle.The video display screen 16 may, during forward driving of the equippedvehicle, and such as responsive to the driver actuating a turn signalindicator of the vehicle and/or responsive to detection of anothervehicle at or near or approaching a blind spot at one or both sides ofthe equipped vehicle, display video images for viewing by the driver ofthe vehicle with the field of display of the images restricted to asideward and rearward region of the captured images so as to selectivelyonly display the pertinent side lane blind spot area/region (and theapproaching vehicle or overtaking vehicle or passing vehicle therein) toalert the driver of the presence of the other vehicle and/or to assistthe driver in making a lane change, as also discussed below.

In the illustrated embodiment, the video display screen 16 is disposedat an interior rearview mirror assembly 20 of the vehicle (such as in amirror casing 20 a and behind a reflective element 20 b of the mirrorassembly 20 such that displayed information is viewable through thereflective element of the mirror assembly, such as shown in FIGS. 6, 11Aand 11B and as discussed below). The interior mirror assembly maycomprise an electro-optic reflective element, such as an electrochromicreflective element, having a transflective mirror reflector (such as oneor more thin metallic films or coatings disposed on a surface of asubstrate of the reflective element, such as disposed on the frontsurface of the rear substrate, commonly referred to as the third surfaceof the mirror reflective element) that is partially transmissive ofvisible light therethrough and partially reflectant of visible lightincident thereon, such as a mirror reflective element of the typesdescribed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,274,501; 7,255,451; 7,195,381; 7,184,190;5,668,663; 5,724,187 and/or 6,690,268, which are all hereby incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties). Thus, the video displayscreen, when operating to display video images or the like, is viewablethrough the transflective mirror reflector and the mirror reflectiveelement by the driver of the vehicle and, when the video display screenis not operating to display video images or the like, the video displayscreen is not readily viewable or observable or discernible to thedriver of the vehicle, such that the presence of the video displayscreen is rendered covert by the transflective mirror reflector and thedriver of the vehicle normally views the mirror reflector and reflectiveelement to view the reflected rearward image at the mirror reflectiveelement. Optionally, the video display screen may be disposed elsewherein the vehicle, such as at or in an accessory module or windshieldelectronics module or overhead console or center stack region of theinstrument panel or elsewhere at the instrument panel or other areas ofthe vehicle, while remaining within the spirit and scope of the presentinvention. The vision system and display system of the present inventionmay utilize aspects of the display systems described in U.S. Pat. Nos.5,786,772; 5,929,786 and/or 6,198,409, which are hereby incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties. Optionally, the vision systemand display system may utilize aspects of the blind spot detectionsystems of the types described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,720,580; 7,038,577;6,882,287; 5,929,786 and/or 5,786,772, and/or U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/239,980, filed Sep. 30, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,881,496,which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

In the illustrated embodiment, and as shown in FIG. 1 , the rearwardfacing camera 12 has a wide angle rearward field of view 22 thatencompasses about 185 degrees (fields of view larger and smaller thanthis and that encompass the side lane regions may be contemplated whileremaining within the spirit and scope of the present invention). Thus,during a reversing maneuver, the rearward facing camera 12 and videoprocessor 18 and video display screen 16 can operate to display entireimages (or substantially entire images) captured by the rearward facingcamera (such as, for example, images encompassed by the about 185 degreefield of view of the camera in FIG. 1 ), in order to provide videoimages to the driver of the vehicle of a wide area or region or blindzone immediately rearward of the vehicle to assist the driver of thevehicle in making the reversing maneuver (such as shown in FIG. 20 anddiscussed below). The rearward facing camera and/or video processorand/or video display screen and/or backup assist system may utilizeaspects of the systems described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,677; 5,760,962;5,670,935; 6,201,642; 6,396,397; 6,498,620; 6,717,610; 6,757,109;7,005,974 and/or 7,265,656, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

Typically, such a rearward facing camera for a rear vision system orbackup assist system is activated responsive to the driver of theequipped vehicle shifting the gear actuator into a reverse gearposition, whereby video images captured by the camera are displayed atthe video display screen. When the reversing maneuver is completed, suchas when the driver of the vehicle finally shifts the gear actuator outof the reverse gear position (and into either a park or neutral positionor a forward gear position), display of the images captured by thecamera ceases and the camera is often deactivated.

The present invention utilizes the rearward facing camera during suchreversing events or reversing maneuvers and also utilizes the rearwardfacing camera during non-reversing events or maneuvers (such as when thevehicle is being driven in a forward direction along a road), so as toprovide rearward and/or sideward images to the driver of the vehiclewhen the driver is driving the equipped vehicle in a forward directionof travel. Thus, the rearward facing camera and/or the video displayscreen may remain activated or energized during forward travel maneuversof the vehicle and/or may be episodically activated during forwardtravel maneuvers (such as in response to the driver of the vehicleactuating a turn signal indicator or such as in response to a detection(such as via the likes of machine vision or via radar or ultrasonic ortime of flight infrared sensing) of another vehicle at or in orapproaching a side blind spot of the equipped vehicle).

During such forward travel driving situations, the rearward facingcamera may turn on/off or remain activated and, when activated, maycapture images at the rear or rearward of the vehicle and the videoprocessor or control or video decoder and video display screen of thevision system may operate to display a selected or appropriate portionor portions of the captured video images at the video display screen todisplay the side lane blind spot area to the driver of the equippedvehicle or to alert the driver of the presence of a detected vehicle ator near or approaching the side lane blind spot area of the equippedvehicle. For example, the video display screen 16 of vision system 10may display a portion (FIGS. 6 and 11A-B) of the images captured by therearward facing camera 12 and may display a selected or appropriateportion of the captured images relevant to a particular drivingcondition in a manner that is cognitively readily recognizable to, andusable by, the driver of the equipped vehicle. For example, and as shownin FIG. 6 , the video display screen 16 may have at least two (or more)separately addressable or operable zones or regions, such as a left zoneor region 16 a and a right zone or region 16 b, for separatelydisplaying respective portions of the video images captured by the rearcamera 12. The cropped or partial or side lane-viewing field of view atthe selected side lane is selected (such as appropriate for theparticular vehicle equipped with the system) so as to principallydisplay what is being imaged in the respective side lane adjacent theroad lane being traveled by the equipped vehicle. For example, the sidelane viewing restricted field of display may have a field of viewrearward of greater than about 10 degrees and less than about 75 degreesor thereabouts.

The rear camera video image data thus is fed to the video processor, andthe video processor may determine (such as via machine vision processingof captured image data) an approach of another vehicle close to therear/side blind spot of the side mirror of the equipped vehicle, wherebythe system automatically turns on or displays video of the “cropped”blind spot viewing field of view (the portion of the captured rearwardimage that encompasses the rearward and sideward region adjacent to andrearward of the equipped vehicle). Such video processing and/or croppingmay be achieved via any suitable video processing means, and mayinclude, for example, a Techwell decoder available from Techwell Inc. ofSan Jose, CA, or an EYEQ™ image processor from MobilEye of Jerusalem,Israel (for example, such as the EYEQ2™ video image processor), such asat or in the video mirror assembly or the like. Optionally, the videoprocessor and/or associated image processor may be disposed at or in theinterior mirror assembly or elsewhere at the vehicle and/or may bedisposed at the rear-mounted camera device and/or may be part ofincorporated at or in the camera or the like, while remaining within thespirit and scope of the present invention.

For example, and with reference to FIGS. 2-5 and 11A, if the driver ofthe equipped vehicle actuates a left turn signal or if another vehicle24 is detected (such as via any suitable detection means, such as imageprocessing of the images captured by the rearward facing camera 12 orvia a radar sensing device or system or via a lane departure warningsystem of the vehicle or a blind spot detection system of the vehicle orthe like) rearward of the equipped vehicle 14 and at or approaching ablind spot area at the rear and left side of equipped vehicle, the videodisplay screen 16 may display a left side region 22 a of the field ofview 22 encompassed by the rearward facing camera 12. In the illustratedembodiment of FIG. 11A, the video display may utilize a left portion 16a of the video display screen 16 (such as a left half or left zone orregion or such as a left third (or any other fraction) of the screen)for displaying the real time video images of the left side region 22 acaptured by the rear camera (as captured at a left portion of the fieldof view of the video camera that encompasses a left side lane adjacentto the equipped vehicle) or for displaying iconistic representations ofa detected approaching and overtaking vehicle at the left side laneadjacent to the equipped vehicle (with the displayed images beingviewable through the transflective mirror reflector and the mirrorreflective element). Optionally, the video display may also display inthe left zone 16 a an iconistic display or representation 21 a of theleft side of the equipped or subject vehicle and optionally may displayan iconistic display 23 of a vehicle at or near or approaching theequipped vehicle (also viewable through the transflective mirrorreflector and mirror reflective element), so as to enhance the driver'scognitive understanding of the partial video display at the videodisplay screen. Optionally, the display system may, when displayingvideo images at the left display zone 16 a, utilize a right zone orregion or portion 16 b (and/or a middle portion or zone or region) ofthe video display screen 16 for displaying an iconistic display orrepresentation of the left side of the equipped or subject vehicleand/or an iconistic display of a vehicle at or near or approaching theequipped vehicle (viewable through the transflective mirror reflectorand mirror reflective element), so as to enhance the driver's cognitiveunderstanding of the partial video display at the video display screen.As shown in FIGS. 2-5 , the displayed blind spot region may display theother vehicle 24 approaching the left side blind spot region (FIG. 2 ),entering the left side blind spot region (FIG. 3 ), where the front sideportion of the vehicle may be displayed, overtaking and passing the leftside blind spot region (FIG. 4 ), where the rear side portion of thevehicle may be displayed, passing or exiting the left side blind spotregion (FIG. 5 ), where only a small rear portion of the vehicle may bedisplayed but the vehicle at that time would be viewable in theperipheral vision of the driver of the equipped vehicle 14 at the leftside of the vehicle.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 , the bulk or portion of the other vehicle 24may still be in the side blind spot area of the equipped vehicle 14,while only a small rear portion of the vehicle 24 is being imaged. Sucha small portion may not be readily viewable or discernible to the driverof the equipped vehicle when the system displays the small portion atthe partial display area of the video display screen. Thus, it isenvisioned that, if the system detects and images the other vehicleapproaching and passing the equipped vehicle, the system may optionallyreconstruct the detected vehicle for displaying at the video displayscreen. For example, the video processor or control may reconstruct orgraphically generate or represent the non-imaged portion of the othervehicle in video display to supplement or add to the small rearwardportion that is being imaged. For example, when the rear end of theother vehicle is imaged and the other vehicle is partially in the sidelane blind spot of the equipped vehicle, the system can, rather thanlosing the full displayed image of the other vehicle as it progressesbeyond the field of view of the rearward facing camera, continue to showor represent the whole vehicle (or substantial portion thereof) eventhough the other vehicle has physically left or partially left the fieldof view of the rearward facing camera. The system thus may provide agraphic overlay and/or computer generated images to represent theforward portion or non-imaged portion of the other vehicle and maydisplay them at the video display screen (so as to be viewable throughthe transflective mirror reflector and mirror reflective element) toenhance the driver's cognitive awareness of the other vehicle and toenhance the driver's situational awareness as to the location of theother vehicle relative to the side lane blind spot of the equippedvehicle.

Because the overtaking and/or passing vehicle is imaged as it approachesthe equipped vehicle from the rear, the system may be operable toreconstruct or generate a graphic representation of that particularvehicle or vehicle type to graphically or electronically construct animage of the passing vehicle at the video display screen. For example,the video display screen may display the imaged rear portion of theovertaking vehicle, and may display a graphic representation of at leastpart of the non-imaged portion of the overtaking vehicle to enhance thedriver's awareness of the presence and location of the overtaking andpassing vehicle relative to the equipped vehicle. The graphicrepresentation may include a graphic representation of a side portion ofthe equipped vehicle to further enhance the driver's awareness of thelocation of the overtaking and passing vehicle relative to the equippedvehicle. Thus, the system of the present invention may generate arepresentation of the non-imaged portion of the detected vehicle to makesure that the driver of the equipped vehicle is aware of the presence ofthe other vehicle as it is passing the equipped vehicle and is not beingfully or substantially imaged by the rearward facing camera but maystill be at least partially in the side lane blind spot area of theequipped vehicle.

Similarly, and with reference to FIGS. 7-10 and 11B, the video displayscreen 16 of vision system 10 may display a right portion (FIG. 11B) ofthe images captured by the rearward facing camera 12 and may display aselected or appropriate portion of the captured images relevant to aparticular driving condition. For example, if the driver of the equippedvehicle actuates a right turn signal or if another vehicle 25 isdetected (such as via any suitable detection means, such as imageprocessing of the images captured by the rearward facing camera 12 orvia a radar sensing device or system or via a lane departure warningsystem of the vehicle or a blind spot/side object detection system ofthe vehicle or the like) rearward of the equipped vehicle 14 and at orapproaching a blind spot area at the rear and right side of equippedvehicle, the video display screen 16 may display a right side region 22b of the field of view 22 encompassed by the rearward facing camera 12.In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 11B, and in a similar manner asdescribed above for a vehicle passing on the left side of the subject orequipped vehicle, the video display screen may, when a vehicle isapproaching and overtaking and passing on the right side of the subjector equipped vehicle, utilize the right zone or region or portion 16 b ofthe video display screen 16 (such as a right half or portion or zone orregion or such as a right third (or any other fraction) of the displayscreen) for displaying the real time video images of the right sideregion 22 b (as captured at a right portion of the field of view of thevideo camera that encompasses a right side lane adjacent to the equippedvehicle) or for displaying iconistic representations of a detectedapproaching and overtaking vehicle at the right side lane adjacent tothe equipped vehicle (with the displayed video images and/or icons beingviewable through the transflective mirror reflector and mirrorreflective element). Optionally, the video display may display in theright zone 16 b an iconistic display or representation 21 b of the rightside of the equipped or subject vehicle and optionally may display aniconistic display 23 of a vehicle at or near or approaching the equippedvehicle (also viewable through the transflective mirror reflector andmirror reflective element), so as to enhance the driver's cognitiveunderstanding of the partial video display at the video display screen.Optionally, the display system may, when displaying video images at theright display zone 16 a, utilize the left zone or region or portion 16 a(and/or a middle portion or zone or region) of the video display screen16 for displaying an iconistic display or representation of the rightside of the equipped or subject vehicle and/or an iconistic display of avehicle at or near or approaching the equipped vehicle (viewable throughthe transflective mirror reflector and mirror reflective element), so asto enhance the driver's cognitive understanding of the partial videodisplay at the video display screen. As shown in FIGS. 7-10 , thedisplayed blind spot region may display the other vehicle 25 approachingthe right side blind spot region (FIG. 7 ), entering the right sideblind spot region (FIG. 8 ), where the front side portion of the vehiclemay be displayed, overtaking and passing the right side blind spotregion (FIG. 9 ), where the rear side portion of the vehicle may bedisplayed, passing or exiting the right side blind spot region (FIG. 10), where only a small rear portion of the vehicle may be displayed butthe vehicle at that time would be viewable in the peripheral vision ofthe driver of the equipped vehicle 14 at the right side of the vehicle(and the system may be operable to graphically represent the non-imagedportion of the overtaking and passing vehicle to enhance the driver'scognitive awareness of the presence and location of the passing vehiclerelative to the equipped vehicle, as discussed above).

Optionally, and with reference to FIG. 12 , the system may detect avehicle 24, 25 at each side of or approaching a side lane blind spotarea of the equipped vehicle 14. In such a situation, the system maydisplay captured images of both side regions 22 a, 22 b at respectivesides or portions of the display screen to alert the driver of thepresence of vehicles at or approaching both sides of the vehicle.Optionally, the system may overlay the iconistic representation at therespective display portion to enhance the driver's cognitive awarenessand understanding of the displayed images.

Optionally, the system may be operable to provide a larger iconistic orcartoon-like representation of the captured images at a portion of thevideo display (and optionally with the typical blind spot icon at thevideo display as well), such as by utilizing aspects of the displaysystem described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,005,974 and/or 7,265,656, which arehereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Forexample, and as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 , the video display screen may,instead of displaying video images of the side blind spot area (ascaptured by the rearward facing camera), display an iconistic orcartoon-like or graphic representation of a vehicle detected at or in orapproaching the side blind spot area (responsive to detection of anapproaching and overtaking vehicle). Optionally, the video displayscreen may also display an iconistic representation of the side portion21 a, 21 b of the vehicle at which the approaching and overtakingvehicle is detected, and/or the video display screen may display thetypical iconistic blind spot detection representation 23 at or near oradjacent to the cartoon-like representation, such as in a similar manneras discussed above (and viewable through the transflective mirrorreflector and mirror reflective element). Optionally, the video displayscreen may display the video images and a cartoon-like iconisticrendering of the displayed video images of the side-approaching andovertaking vehicle, which thus may provide machine vision combined withreal time or human vision. Optionally, and as shown in FIG. 15 , thesystem may provide graphic overlays 17 at the video image display orcartoon-like display to enhance the driver's cognitive awareness andunderstanding of the displayed images, and optionally to providedistance markers to enhance the driver's understanding of the locationof the detected and/or displayed vehicle relative to the equippedvehicle (with the graphic overlays also being viewable through thetransflective mirror reflector and mirror reflective element). Thegraphic overlay thus may allow distance/perspective gauging by thedriver of the equipped vehicle relative to the side blind spot area atthe side of the equipped vehicle, and can be used to give a sense ofdistance or perception depth for the driver to gauge how far away theovertaking or approaching vehicle may be from the equipped vehicle andalso where the overtaking or approaching vehicle is relative to a sideblind spot of the equipped vehicle.

Optionally, and with reference to FIG. 16 , the video display screen 16′(which may be disposed in an interior rearview mirror assembly 20 andbehind the reflective element of the mirror assembly) may comprise aleft zone or region 16 a′ (such as a left third or zone or region forselectively displaying an image captured at the left side and rearwardof the vehicle), a right zone or region 16 b′ (such as a right third orzone or region for selectively displaying an image captured at the rightside and rearward of the vehicle), and a center or middle zone or region16 c′ (such as a center third or zone or region for selectivelydisplaying an image captured at the center and rearward of the vehicle).Thus, for example, and with reference to FIGS. 17 and 18 , when avehicle is approaching the subject vehicle 14′ from the left and rear ofthe subject vehicle, the approaching vehicle 25′ (such as the motorcycleshown in FIG. 17 ) may be detected and images of the approaching vehiclemay be captured at the left region or zone of the rear backup camera 12,and the captured images of the approaching vehicle may be displayed atthe left zone or region 16 a′ of the video display screen 16′ (such asshown in FIG. 18 ). In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 18 , the videodisplay screen 16′ utilizes the left portion 16 a′ of the video displayscreen 16′ for displaying the real time video images of the vehicle atthe left side region 22 a (as captured by the rear camera in the leftportion of the field of view of the rear camera), and may darken orotherwise not utilize the other zones or regions 16 b′, 16 c′ of thevideo display screen 16′. Optionally, and as shown in FIG. 18 , thevideo display screen 16′ may utilize the middle zone or region orportion 16 c′ of the video display screen 16′ for displaying aniconistic display or representation 21′ of the side of the equipped orsubject vehicle and optionally may display an iconistic alert signal orwarning sign 23′ (while the right zone or region 16 b′ of the videodisplay screen 16′ may be entirely darkened or otherwise non-active ordeactivated or the like) so as to enhance the driver's cognitiveunderstanding of the partial video display at the video display screen.Although shown in FIGS. 17 and 18 as displaying video images at the leftzone of the display screen to display real time video images of thescene occurring at the left side lane adjacent to the left side of theequipped vehicle, clearly the vision and display system of the presentinvention functions in a similar manner to display video images at theright zone of the display screen to display real time video images ofthe scene occurring at the right side lane adjacent to the right side ofthe equipped vehicle.

As can be seen with reference to FIGS. 19A and 19B, as the approachingvehicle approaches the rear of the equipped vehicle and is not yet inthe blind spot or blind zone of the exterior rearview mirror assembly 15of the vehicle 14, the approaching vehicle may be viewed by the driverat the mirror reflective element of the exterior rearview mirrorassembly of the equipped vehicle, such as in a known manner. As theapproaching vehicle gets closer to the equipped vehicle, theapproaching/passing vehicle may not be viewable by the driver of theequipped vehicle at the exterior rearview mirror assembly, but will bedisplayed at and viewable at the video display screen at the interiorrearview mirror assembly when the approaching vehicle is at the leftside region of the field of view of the wide angle rear backup camera ofthe equipped vehicle.

Optionally, and with reference to FIGS. 21A and 21B, the video displaymay utilize a portion of the video display (such as the left portion 16a″ of video display screen 16″) to display video images of the sceneoccurring at either side region of the vehicle as captured by the rearbackup camera (while the other portion 16 b″ of the video display screen16″ may not display any information or images and thus may not beobservable or discernible through the transflective mirror reflector ofthe mirror reflective element of the mirror assembly 20). In theillustrated embodiment, the display includes an arrow or other indicatorto indicate to the driver of the vehicle which side of the vehicle thedisplayed image is pertaining to. For example, the display may include aleftward directed arrow 21 a″ (FIG. 21A) to indicate to the driver thatthe displayed video images are from the left region or portion of thefield of view of the rear camera and show the scene that is occurring atthe left side lane adjacent to the left side of the vehicle, and mayinclude a rightward directed arrow 21 b″ (FIG. 21B) to indicate to thedriver that the displayed video images are from the right region orportion of the field of view of the rear camera and show the scene thatis occurring at the right side lane adjacent to the right side of thevehicle. Such displays and arrows/indicators may be automaticallydisplayed at one or more portions or zones or regions of the videodisplay screen responsive to at least one of (a) actuation of a left orright turn signal indicator of the vehicle, (b) detection of a vehiclein or approaching the left or right side lane adjacent to the equippedvehicle and (c) a lane departure warning system of the vehicle, such asin a similar manner as described above.

The displayed images thus show the right hand side or left hand side ofthe blind spot area at either side of the vehicle with an arrow at orbelow the displayed video images indicating which side of the vehicle isbeing viewed. In the illustrated embodiment, the display is onlyutilizing half of the video display screen but could utilize the fullvideo display screen (or other portion of the video display screen) asdesired. In the illustrated embodiment, the display is only using theleft region or zone of the video display screen for selectively showingthe left side lane images and the right side lane images (such as byonly activating a left bank or array of backlighting LEDs or bydarkening pixels on the right and middle regions or zones of the displayscreen or via any other suitable means for using only a portion or zoneof the video display screen while having the other portion benon-viewable or non-discernible through the transflective mirrorreflector of the mirror reflective element behind which the displayscreen is disposed). Optionally, the display could use only the rightregion or zone to display the video images or could use both or all ofthe regions or zones of the video display screen to display the videoimages. Optionally, the screen usage area for displaying the videoimages may be dynamic, and may be increased as the vehicle approaches orresponsive to a detected unsafe lane change condition or the like (andmay be optimized for each customer or mirror application). Optionally,the screen area under the image shows an arrow or other indicator as tothe side of the vehicle at which the imaged scene is occurring and,optionally, the arrow or indicator may be shown as a flashing arrow orindicator or may be otherwise highlighted as the detected vehicle entersthe blind spot. Optionally, the size of the displayed image or indicatorand/or intensity of the displayed image or indicator and/or a flashingor flash rate of the displayed image or indicator may be responsive todetection of an unsafe lane change condition or the like, such asresponsive to the user actuating a turn signal indicator toward the sideof the vehicle at which an approaching/overtaking vehicle is located, inorder to warn the driver of an unsafe lane change condition. Other meansfor indicating the presence and/or location of a detected vehicle at theblind spot area adjacent the equipped vehicle may also or otherwise beimplemented while remaining within the spirit and scope of the presentinvention.

As shown in FIGS. 11A, 11B, 18, 21A and 21B, the portion or zone orregion of the video display screen that is operated to display the videoimages is viewable through the transflective mirror reflector while theportion or portions or zones or regions of the video display 16 thatis/are not operated to display video images may be dark or otherwise maynot display video information or other information (but optionally maydisplay one or more iconistic representations or the like), whereby thedriver viewing the mirror reflective element at the non-video displayingportion of the video display views a reflected rearward image asreflected by the transflective mirror reflector of the mirror reflectiveelement. Thus, the non-displaying zone (or zones) of the video displayscreen remains covert or non-observable by the driver of the equippedvehicle, whereas the displaying zone (or zones) of the video display isvisible as a display on demand video display. During normal driving, thedriver readily becomes accustomed to the cognitive association of theleft display zone location to the right display zone location and thusreadily cognitively associates the appearance of images at the left zoneto be associated with an overtaking vehicle in the left side lane andreadily cognitively associates the appearance of images at the rightzone to be associated with an overtaking vehicle in the right side lane.This cognitive association of a left displaying covert display and anadjacent right displaying covert display (all occurring at the driverside of the mirror assembly) readily assists and assures the driver'scognitive recognition and use of the displayed information. The visionand display system of the present invention thus provides a blind spotside lane display or alert at the interior rearview mirror assembly thatdoes not substantially interfere with the driver's rearward field ofview at the mirror reflective element of the interior rearview mirrorassembly.

The selection of the particular zone that is used to display the videoimages at the side lane area of the vehicle during forward travel of thevehicle may depend on the particular application and desired appearanceand performance of the display system. For example, the left displayregion may display the left side lane images while the right displayregion may display the right side lane images (and both display regionsmay operate at the same time to display the left and right side laneimages responsive to a vehicle being detected in both side lanesadjacent to the equipped vehicle), or the left display region may beused for displaying either of the side lane images so that the displayedimages are at the same portion of the mirror reflective element (such asat or near the perimeter side region of the reflective element) forviewing by the driver of the vehicle (and optionally with an iconisticdisplay to indicate which side of the equipped vehicle the displayedimage is derived from). Other display configurations or schemes thatselectively utilize one or more regions of the display screen based onimage data sets that encompass two or more areas or zones exterior andrearward and/or sideward of the vehicle may be utilized while remainingwithin the spirit and scope of the present invention.

In the illustrated embodiments, the video display screen is disposed inthe interior mirror assembly and behind the mirror reflective elementand at a left or driver side of the mirror assembly when the mirrorassembly is normally mounted in the equipped vehicle. Such aconfiguration and display location is preferred for vehicles with thedriver side at the left side of the vehicle. For vehicles (such asvehicles for driving in Europe) with the driver side at the right handside of the vehicle, the video display screen may be disposed in theinterior mirror assembly and behind the mirror reflective element and ata right or driver side of the mirror assembly when the mirror assemblyis normally mounted in such an equipped vehicle, without affecting thescope of the present invention.

Optionally, and preferably, the video display screen comprises areconfigurable thin film transistor liquid crystal display screen thatis backlit by a plurality of white light-emitting light emitting diodes,such as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/091,525, filedApr. 25, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,855,755, which is hereby incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety. The reconfigurable video displayscreen comprises multiple individually addressable pixels, with eachpixel operable under electronic control to be light transmitting (i.e.,“bright”, such that visible light emitted by the rear backlighting issubstantially transmitted therethrough) or any given pixel or pixels,under electronic control, can be rendered substantially non-lighttransmitting (i.e., “dark”, such that visible light emitted by the rearbacklighting is substantially attenuated or blocked by the dark pixels).The backlighting array of multiple individual white light-emitting lightemitting diodes (in conjunction with the likes of diffusers, reflectors,brightness enhancement films and/or the like, such as described in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/091,525, filed Apr. 25, 2008, now U.S.Pat. No. 7,855,755, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference inits entirety) generates a generally uniform backlighting intensity of atleast about 30,000 candelas/m², more preferably at least about 60,000candelas per square meter (cd/m²), and more preferably at least about90,000 cd/m². Such uniform and intense backlighting is enabled to passthrough individually addressable RGB liquid crystal pixels to be, inturn, incident at the rear substrate of the mirror reflective elementinvolved, so as to, in turn, pass through the transflective mirrorreflector of the mirror reflective element and thereafter ultimatelypass out of the front surface of the mirror reflective element involvedso as to be viewed by the driver of the equipped vehicle when thesubject interior video mirror assembly is installed and normallyoperated in the equipped vehicle.

Preferably, and as discussed below, the video display screen provides ahigh contrast ratio (preferably greater than about 350:1, morepreferably greater than about 650:1 and more preferably greater thanabout 900:1) so that the darkened or non-video-displaying portion orportions of the video display screen are substantially dark relative tothe video displaying portion or portions to enhance viewability of thedisplaying portions and non-discernibility of the non-video-displayingportions of the video display screen through the transflective mirrorreflector of the mirror reflective element when the reflective elementand mirror assembly are normally mounted in the vehicle. By having thepixels of a non-displaying portion of the video display screen benon-emitting (i.e., “dark”) and when the video display screen isdisposed behind a transflective mirror reflector in a video mirrorassembly, the driver's use of the mirror reflector for rear vision ismaximized. Also, by having the preferred high contrast ratio, lightbleed-through is limited or minimized.

Typically, such a backlit video display screen may include an array oflight emitting diodes (LEDs), such as white light-emitting LEDs, andsuch as an array of at least about 15 white light-emitting LEDs, morepreferably at least 30 white light-emitting LEDs, and more preferably atleast about 45 white light-emitting LEDs or the like, such as byutilizing aspects of the video displays described in such as describedin U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,195,381 and/or 7,370,983, and/or U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/091,525, filed Apr. 25, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No.7,855,755, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties. During a reversing maneuver, the video display screen may beactivated and backlit to display images captured by the rear backupcamera of the vehicle. When the driver of the vehicle is normallyoperating the vehicle and driving the vehicle forward along a road, thevideo display screen may be deactivated, whereby (for applications wherethe video display screen is disposed in the interior rearview mirrorassembly of the vehicle and behind a transflective mirror reflector ofthe mirror reflective element) the mirror reflective element provides atypical rearward field of view to the driver of the vehicle. With thevision system of the present invention, when the driver actuates a turnsignal of the vehicle (such as a left turn signal in anticipation of alane change to a lane to the left of the vehicle), the whole array ofLEDs that backlight the video display screen (at the left, middle andright zones or regions of the display) may be activated or energized orilluminated. As can be seen with reference to FIG. 18 , the liquidcrystal pixels of the backlit liquid crystal display screen at themiddle display zone or region (except where one or more icons or thelike may be displayed) or right display zone or region are dark (i.e.,non-light transmitting so that light emitted by the backlighting LEDs issubstantially attenuated or blocked so as to not pass through or bleedthrough those particular addressed and “darkened” liquid crystal pixels)or otherwise not activated or operating to display images and/orinformation, and thus these zones or regions of the video display screenare not viewable through the transflective mirror reflector of thetransflective mirror reflective element of the mirror assembly. Thus,when the driver of the equipped vehicle views the mirror and the videodisplay screen, the middle and right zones or regions or areas of thevideo display area of the mirror are viewed as the normal mirrorreflector (so the video display screen is substantially or wholly covertat those regions). In other words, the driver operating the vehicle seesthe normal mirror reflector at the middle and right zones, while viewingthe displayed images and/or icons and/or the like at the activated anddisplaying left zone or region of the video display screen (when theleft zone or region operates to display such images and/or icons and/orthe like, such as responsive to the driver actuating a turn signal or adetection of an object in the adjacent side lane or a lane departurewarning system or the like).

Thus, the backlighting LEDs of the liquid crystal video display screen(comprising a plurality of individually addressable or controllableliquid crystal pixels that are viewable when backlit by respective LEDsor banks of LEDs or the like) may be all activated as a single bank orarray of LEDs, whereby the pixels of the backlit liquid crystal displayscreen may be selectively darkened at the zones or regions where thedisplay is not to be viewable by the driver of the vehicle, such thatthe driver of the vehicle only views captured images at the zone orportion that is to be viewed (such as the left zone or region in FIG. 18) while the other zones or regions of the video display screen are notviewable by the driver of the vehicle through the mirror reflector ofthe mirror reflective element and those areas of the mirror assembly arethus viewed as a typical mirror reflective element. Optionally, thevideo display screen may have the backlighting LEDs arranged orconfigured in separate banks of LEDs (such as a left bank or array ofLEDs, a center bank or array of LEDs and a right bank or array of LEDsor the like), whereby the individual or separate banks or arrays of LEDsmay be selectively individually activated to backlight a respective zoneor region of the liquid crystal display screen. In applications where aseparate bank or array of LEDs is used for each display zone or region,it is envisioned that an iconistic representation of the vehicle or analert signal or warning sign may be displayed at the activated zone(such as at the left display zone in FIG. 18 instead of the middledisplay zone) so that the array of LEDs at the middle display zone andthe array of LEDs at the right display zone may remain deactivated orde-energized or otherwise non-operating during the display process.Optionally, the backlighting LEDs and/or the liquid crystal pixels ofthe backlit display may be individually addressable or energizable toactivate/backlight/display the appropriate zones or regions of thedisplay while not activating or displaying the other zones or regions.

The video display screen device or module may comprise any suitable typeof video screen and is operable to display images in response to aninput or signal from a control or imaging system. For example, the videodisplay screen may comprise a multi-pixel liquid crystal module (LCM) orliquid crystal video display (LCD), preferably a thin film transistor(TFT) multi-pixel liquid crystal video display (such as discussedbelow), or the video screen may comprise a multi-pixel organicelectroluminescent video display or a multi-pixel light emitting diode(LED) video display, such as an organic light emitting diode (OLED) orinorganic light emitting video diode display or the like, or anelectroluminescent (EL) video display or the like.

Video display screens used in interior video mirror assemblies typicallyhave a display area typically greater than about 20 cm², and morepreferably greater than about 30 cm², but typically are less than about70 cm² or thereabouts. The video display screen, preferable and usablein a video mirror application, preferably provides a display screen orarea that is greater than at least 2.4 inches diagonal, and morepreferably greater that at least about 3.3 inches diagonal and morepreferably greater than at least about 3.5 inches diagonal and less thanor equal to about 4.7 inches diagonal. The video display screen mayinclude QVA size (320×240 pixel) output pins or WQVA size (480×234pixel) output pins, and may provide a resolution of at least about75,000 pixels, more preferably at least about 85,000 pixels, and morepreferably at least about 95,000 pixels or thereabouts (with the pixelscomprising individually addressable liquid crystal pixels). The videodisplay screen may provide a display screen or area of any suitableaspect ratio, such as an aspect ratio of about 4:3 or 15:9 or 16:9 orthe like, without affecting the scope of the present invention. Theindustry standard that can be used includes 4:3 screen resolutionprovided by VGA (640×480), SVGA (800×600), XGA (1024×768) or SXGA(1280×1024), and includes 16:9 screen resolution provided by similarstandards or WXGA (1366×768). Preferably, the video display screen is ahigh resolution video display comprising a high resolutionreconfigurable thin film transistor (TFT) multipixel liquid crystaldisplay screen having an addressable pixel density of at least about2,000 pixels/cm² of addressable backlit video screen area, morepreferably an addressable pixel density of at least about 2,500pixels/cm² of addressable backlit video screen area, and more preferablyan addressable pixel density of at least about 2,800 pixels/cm² ofaddressable backlit video screen area, and more preferably at leastabout 3,600 pixels/cm² of addressable backlit video screen area, andmore preferably at least about 10,000 pixels/cm² of addressable backlitvideo screen area (such as, for example, about 1-4 Megapixels/cm² orabout 20-35 Megapixels/cm² of addressable backlit video screen area).Preferably, the video display screen provides a contrast ratiopreferably of at least about 250:1, more preferably at least about350:1, more preferably at least about 650:1, and more preferably atleast about 900:1 or 1,000:1 or thereabouts. The higher contrast ratioallows for enhanced viewability of the displayed cropped images whileproviding sufficient darkness at the non-video-displaying portion of thedisplay screen so that the non-video-displaying portion of the screen isnot readily viewable or discernible through the transflective mirrorreflector to a person viewing the mirror reflective element when themirror assembly is normally mounted in a vehicle and so that driver rearvision using the mirror reflector is enhanced or maximized.

Although the display screen may provide a large display area (such as adisplay area having a 3.3 inch or 3.5 inch diagonal dimension orthereabouts) in the likes of an about 16:9 aspect ratio), typically itis desired to restrict the size of the real-time video display duringforward driving so as to not utilize the entire available display area(which may reduce the reflective area of the mirror reflective elementwhen the display is activated to display video images). Thus, the videodisplay screen may utilize only a portion (such as a left portion or aright portion) of the video display screen for displaying the videoimages in particular, and also any associated iconistic orcomputer-generated images. Typically, when the video display screen isactivated, its backlighting (such as an array of LEDs or the like suchas described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,195,381 and/or 7,370,983, and/or U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/091,525, filed Apr. 25, 2008, now U.S.Pat. No. 7,855,755, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties) is activated. Thus, the video processor may darken(i.e., render black or non-light emitting or substantially non-lightemitting) the non-video-displaying portion by making dark or black theLCD pixels that are not displaying video images. Thus, a higher contrastratio is desired to enhance the viewability of the displaying portion ofthe video display screen and to enhance the non-discernibility of thenon-video displaying portion of the video display screen by a driverviewing the reflective element when the mirror assembly is normallymounted in a vehicle.

In a preferred embodiment, and such as for use in an interior rearviewvideo mirror assembly (such as a video mirror utilizing aspects of thesystems described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,690,268; 6,902,284; 7,184,190;7,195,381; 7,255,451; 7,274,501; 7,338,177; 7,370,983; 7,490,007 and/or7,540,620, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/538,724, filedJun. 13, 2005, which published on Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S. PatentPublication No. US 2006/0050018; Ser. No. 11/226,628, filed Sep. 14,2005, which published on Mar. 23, 2006 as U.S. Patent Publication No. US2006/0061008; Ser. No. 12/091,525, filed Apr. 25, 2008, now U.S. Pat.No. 7,855,755; Ser. No. 12/578,732, filed Oct. 14, 2009, now U.S. Pat.No. 9,487,144; Ser. No. 09/585,379, filed Jun. 1, 2000, abandoned,and/or Ser. No. 10/207,291, filed Jul. 29, 2002 and published Jan. 9,2003 as U.S. Publication No. US-2003-0007261, and/or PCT Application No.PCT/US2010/25545, filed Feb. 26, 2010, which published on Sep. 2, 2010as International Publication No. WO 2010/099416, which are all herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties), the video displayscreen may provide a resolution of about 480×RGB×272 dots, with astriped pixel arrangement. The active area of the display screen may beabout 77.76 mm (W)×43.52 mm (H), with a pixel pitch of about 0.162(W)×0.16 (H). The active area diagonal dimension may be about 3.51inches or thereabouts, with a viewing direction at 12 o'clock. Theinterface to the video display screen may comprise a 24 bit parallelinterface, and the video display screen may provide a 16.7 million colorresolution. The display may comprise a thin film transistor (TFT) liquidcrystal display (LCD), which is a normally white, transmissive type ofdisplay. The display screen may have a minimum of at least about 45degrees viewing angle in all directions, more preferably at least about50 degrees viewing angle in all directions, and more preferably at leastabout 55 degrees viewing angle in all directions, and preferably has acontrast ratio of at least about 1,000:1. The video display screen, whenoperated to display video images, preferably may have an intensity asviewed through the transflective mirror reflector (preferably a thirdsurface transflective mirror reflector comprising at least one metallictransflective thin film such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,274,501;7,255,451; 7,195,381; 7,184,190; 5,668,663; 5,724,187 and/or 6,690,268,which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties) of the video mirror of at least about 1,500 candelas persquare meter (cd/m²) nominal. Optionally, the video display screen andmirror assembly may utilize aspects of the display systems described inU.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/332,375, filed May 7, 2010,which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Optionally, and desirably, when the video display is part of a videomirror assembly, a contrast ratio (such as measured in accordance withANSI IT7.215-1992: Data Projection Equipment and Large Screen DataDisplays—Test Methods and Performance Characteristics available from theAmerican National Standards Association of Washington DC, USA, which ishereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety) of at leastabout 500:1 is preferred, at least about 750:1 more preferred and atleast about 1,250:1 most preferred. Dynamic contrast control (such asknown in the display art and such as is disclosed by H. Chen et al. in“Locally pixel-compensated backlight dimming on LED-backlit LCD TV”,JSID 15/12 (2007), pp. 981-988, which is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety) may be used in displays and/or systems inaccordance with the present invention. For example, contrast within theindividual video image frames (or sequence of video frames) beingdisplayed (simultaneous contrast) can be increased when the video screenbacklighting is locally dimmed (such as by locally and selectivelydimming backlighting provided by individual banks of backlighting lightemitting diodes (LEDs) or local grouping of backlighting LEDs).

Thus, the system of the present invention utilizes the video displayscreen for both video display and for iconistic display and does so in acognitively recognizable manner, such that the driver can readilyassociate the appearance of the icon on the right (or left) hand side orportion of the screen and the video display on the left (or right) handside or portion of the video screen with a display of the left (orright) side rearward region captured by the rearward facing camera.Optionally, the iconistic display may be displayed over or at the videoimages displayed at the display screen (for example, the left sideportion of the video display screen may include the video images and mayhave the iconistic display while the right side portion of the videodisplay screen may not include any display information or the videodisplay screen may display the left side region video images oversubstantially the entire display region of the display screen and mayinclude the iconistic display at a portion thereof, such as at an upperright portion of the video display screen or the like for displayedimages of the left side rearward area of the captured images).

Thus, the display system of the present invention utilizes a rearwardfacing camera of a backup assist system to display rearward video imagesof the blind zone area immediately rearward and to the sides of thevehicle during reversing maneuvers and to also display a sideward andrearward region of the captured images during forward drivingsituations. The sideward and rearward region that is displayed displaysthe area to the rear and side of the equipped region to the driver sothat the driver can see if there is another vehicle approaching and/orovertaking the equipped vehicle in that side lane, and such display maybe provided upon detection of an approaching or overtaking vehicleand/or upon actuation of a turn signal indicator by the driver of theequipped vehicle.

The system of the present invention thus provides a dual purpose reverseaid/blind spot detection camera mounted at or near a rear portion of thevehicle (such as at or near a rear bumper or license plate holder orrear stop light or center high mounted stop lamp or the like of theequipped vehicle, and such as utilizing aspects of the vision systemsdescribed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/672,070, filed Feb. 7,2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,698,894, which is hereby incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety). Thus, in accordance with the presentinvention, the likes of a reverse camera display at a mirror that ispresent in the vehicle principally to display to the driver of thevehicle what is rearward of the vehicle when that driver is backing up,has extended utility so as to provide to that driver an awareness and/oralert of rearward approaching traffic so that the driver of the equippedvehicle can more safely execute lane change maneuvers when traveling ina forward direction. In accordance with the present invention, the verysame rear backup video camera and video display already present in thevehicle delivers this added utility, and the side lane information is,preferably, provided to the driver via a combination of real time videoimages and computer generated overlays and/or icons and/or animation alldisplaying on the same video display that is part of the rear camerareverse aid system.

Thus, the present invention provides a dual function for a reverse aidbackup camera system. The images captured by the rearward facing reverseaid camera may be displayed on the video display screen (such as at orin the rearview mirror of the vehicle or such as at or in an accessorymodule or windshield electronics module or center stack or overheadconsole or instrument panel or other areas of the vehicle). The backupblind zone implementation provides effective information display byutilizing a wide angle rearward facing camera, such as a camera havingabout a 185 degree or greater field of view or thereabouts. The sidelane blind spot monitoring feature may be activated responsive to thedriver of the vehicle actuating the right or left turn indicator orresponsive to machine vision detection of a vehicle at or in orapproaching a blind spot area at one or both sides of the equippedvehicle. Thus, the present invention provides a video image of the sidelane blind spot area of the equipped vehicle to the driver before thedriver turns or changes lanes. Optionally, the video processor cansuperimpose a graphic overlay depicting actuation of the turn signals aspart of the side lane blind spot monitoring feature to remind the driverthat the turn signals have been actuated.

For example, when the driver activates either the right or left turnsignal or indicator, the reverse aid camera may be activated and thevideo display screen may display images of the side lane blind spot areaof the vehicle utilizing the reverse aid camera. The system may processthe captured images and crop the images or display a portion of theimages. For example, the system may display a left or right sidewardportion depending on which direction the driver is attempting to turn orchange lanes. The video screen may utilize only that side of the screenfor displaying the video images, and the unused portion or portions ofthe video display screen (that does not display video images) mayoptionally show an icon or other information, such as, for example, atraditional icon that represents or indicates that a vehicle is presentin the blind spot area at that side of the vehicle. Such “smartcropping” can be implemented to utilize different percentages of thevideo display area dependent on the customer or type of vehicle or thelike. Optionally, the rearward facing camera may have a zoom capabilitythat can be used with the blind spot feature (or the video processingmay process the captured image data to enlarge the displayed images) inorder to enlarge the blind spot area that is displayed on either aportion of the video display screen or across the entire video displayscreen. Alternatively, or additionally, electronic zooming can beprovided via the video processor via algorithmic manipulation of thevideo images fed thereto from the rear video camera, and in addition,the multi-function video processor may be operable to electronicallyreduce image distortion via algorithmic means so as to reduce oreliminate any “fish-eye” distortion in the image being displayed.

The vision and display system thus comprises a single camera and asingle display screen, while providing a dual function of a backupassist system and a blind spot detection system/lane change assistsystem. Although described as a single camera, clearly the camera orimaging sensor of the system of the present invention may involve morethan one imager or imaging device that are grouped locally in a commonimaging package, while remaining within the spirit and scope of thepresent invention. Optionally, for example, the rear camera mayencompass a monocular vision camera or a stereo vision camera. While thecamera may typically comprise a monocular camera with one imaging chipand associated lenses or lens optics, it is envisioned that the imagermay comprise multiple sensing devices or arrays and associated lenses orlens optics that may be packaged together as an imaging unit or module,while remaining within the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Accordingly, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, areverse backup camera is provided at the rear of the vehicle (such as ata rear license plate or the like of the vehicle) and the video imagescaptured by the rearward facing reverse backup camera are fed (such asvia a twisted wire pair or wireless communication or vehicle network orbus) to an interior video mirror assembly (with the captured images orimage data typically received at the video mirror assembly as a standardprotocol video signal such as an NTSC signal or the like). The interiorvideo mirror assembly comprises both the video display screen and thevideo processor and, preferably, the video processor comprises objectdetection machine vision image processing. In this manner, a combinedrear backup aid/side blind spot monitoring system may be provided for avehicle utilizing the same or common rear backup camera and interiorvideo mirror combination already present on the vehicle for thecamera-based rear backup system alone.

Typically, a forward driving event is distinct and different from areverse driving event and is distinguished by the vehicle electronicsfrom reversing, and thus the side viewing functionality of the presentinvention may be disabled during reversing maneuvers. However, during areversing maneuver, the entire field of view (such as the rearward fieldof view 22 shown in FIG. 1 ) is displayable to the driver, and/or partsthereof are selectively displayable to the driver, in response to, forexample, object detection by an image processor, an ultrasonic sensor, atime of flight infrared detector or the like. For example, and withreference to FIG. 20 , the entire (or substantially entire) rearwardfield of view 22 of the camera 12 may be displayed at the video displayscreen 16 (using both or all of the display zones or regions of thevideo display screen) to assist the driver during a reversing maneuverof the equipped vehicle and, optionally, a graphic overlay 26 may beestablished at the displayed image to further enhance the driver'scognitive recognition and awareness of the displayed image informationand to further assist the driver during the reversing maneuver.Optionally, a camera-based cross traffic feature can be provided wherebywhen a vehicle, vertically parked between adjacent parked vehicles (suchas in the likes of a parking lot or the like), commences reversing outof the parking space, the rearward facing camera and video processorfunction to detect vehicles or objects to the sides of the equippedvehicle and the video display screen may alert the driver as to thepresence of a detected sideward vehicle or object, such as by utilizingaspects of the systems described in PCT Application No.PCT/US2010/25545, filed Feb. 26, 2010 and published Sep. 2, 2010 asInternational Publication No. WO 2010/099416, which is herebyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Optionally, aspects of the cropping and display of a portion of thecaptured images may apply during a reversing maneuver in a similarmanner as discussed above. For example, during a reversing maneuver, ifan object is detected (such as by machine vision processing of thecaptured images via an image processor such as described in U.S. Pat.Nos. 7,720,580 and/or 7,038,577, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/239,980, filed Sep. 30, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,881,496, which areall hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties) at ortoward one side of the vehicle, the video display screen may displaythat portion of the captured rearward image to enhance the driver'scognitive awareness of the presence of the detected object at or nearthe rear side of the equipped vehicle. Such a display may be provided inconjunction with an icon or the like to assist the driver in recognizingwhere the displayed object is located relative to the vehicle.

The vision and display system may display the image portions at thedisplay zones or regions via any suitable manner. For example, thecaptured image data may be processed, such as by machine vision imageprocessing or the like, or the video images may be processed or croppedor the like. Optionally, the image processing and/or cropping may occurin or at a video ECU or a DAS (Driver Assistance System) ECU, such as byutilizing aspects of the systems described in PCT Application No.PCT/US10/038477, filed Jun. 14, 2010 and published Dec. 16, 2010 asInternational Publication No. WO 2010/144900, and/or PCT Application No.PCT/US2010/025545, filed Feb. 26, 2010 and published Sep. 2, 2010 asInternational Publication No. WO 2010/099416, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Such a DAS may belocated at a Head Unit (as such are commonly known in the automotiveart) of a vehicle, where typically other functions (such as infotainmentfunctions and/or navigation functions and/or the like) are also handled.Optionally, the image/display processing may be handled in or at therear camera itself, such as via digital signal processing (DSP)techniques or components incorporated in or included in the rear camerapackage or module itself.

Optionally, the vision and display system may include a forward facingcamera or image sensor for detecting road signs ahead of the equippedvehicle, whereby the video display screen may be operable to displayimages or iconistic representations of detected signs to enhance thedriver's cognitive awareness of the presence of such signs to enhancethe drivers awareness of the driving situation or road condition orsituation that the vehicle is approaching. For example, and withreference to FIGS. 22-25 , a vehicular vision system 110 includes arearward facing camera or imaging sensor 112 with a rearward field ofview behind the vehicle, a forward facing camera or imaging sensor 114with a forward field of view ahead of the vehicle (such as through awindshield of the vehicle and such as through a region of the windshieldthat is cleaned by a windshield wiper of the vehicle), a video displayscreen 116 disposed at an interior cabin of the vehicle and viewable bythe driver of the vehicle, and a video processor 118 for processingimage data captured by the cameras 112 and 114. The video display screen116 is responsive to the video processor 118 (which may be operable tocrop the video images, for machine vision objection detection, forelectronic image distortion reduction and/or for graphic overlaygeneration) and is operable to display video images captured by therearward facing camera 112 for viewing by the driver of the vehicle whenthe driver is normally operating the vehicle, such as in a similarmanner as described above. The video display screen 116 is responsive tothe video processor 118 to also display color images of signs detectedahead of the equipped vehicle as the equipped vehicle is traveling in aforward direction along a road.

For example, the video processor may process image data captured by theforward facing camera 114 and may detect the presence of typical roadsigns, such as a stop sign, a yield sign and/or the like. The videodisplay screen may display the detected road sign (or an iconisticrepresentation of the detected road sign type or a stored photograph orrepresentation of the detected road sign type or the like) to enhancethe driver's cognitive awareness of the presence of the road sign aheadof the equipped vehicle. Preferably, the sign displayed is in the color,shape and form—i.e., national or regional standard form—that the driveris used to seeing on the roads that driver travels on. Optionally, anddesirably, the video display screen may display an iconisticrepresentation or stored full-color image of a detected road signresponsive to detection of a road sign. Because many road signs are ofuniform or standard design and construction in a given country (forexample, all stop signs in the United States are red octagonal signs),the system may have images or iconistic representations the varioustypes of signs stored in memory (such as signs of the types shown inFIG. 23 ), and the video display screen may display in full-color theimage or iconistic representation or stored photograph or rendering of adetected sign type.

For example, if the video processor processes captured image datacaptured by the forward facing camera and determines that a pre-stopsign warning sign 130 a indicating that the vehicle is approaching astop sign ahead of the equipped vehicle, the video display screen maydisplay an image or iconistic representation of the detected sign (suchas shown in FIG. 24 ) to alert the driver as to the presence of thedetected road sign. Likewise, if the video processor processes capturedimage data captured by the forward facing camera and determines that astop sign 130 b is ahead of the equipped vehicle, the video displayscreen may display an image or iconistic representation of the detectedstop sign (such as shown in FIG. 25 ) to alert the driver as to thepresence of the detected road sign.

As shown in FIGS. 23 and 24 , the video display screen may display theimage of the detected sign at a relatively small portion or region ofthe display screen or display area (such as at or near an upper leftcorner of the video display screen), while the rest of the displayscreen may remain dark so that the mirror reflective element maintainsits reflected rearward field of view to the driver of the vehicle over asubstantial portion of the video display screen. Thus, the video displayscreen may provide an image or iconistic display of a detected sign typefor viewing by the driver of the vehicle while the driver is normallyoperating the vehicle and without substantially affecting the driver'srearward field of view at the interior rearview mirror assembly. Thevision and display system thus may process captured image data to detecta sign and to identify or recognize the type of sign (such as byutilizing aspects described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,526,103, and/or U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/781,119, filed May 17, 2010, now U.S.Pat. No. 8,376,595, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties), and may display a stored image of that type of signat the video display screen to alert the driver as to the presence ofthe detected sign. After the vehicle has passed the sign, the displaymay cease displaying the detected sign (this can be sensed, for example,such as by machine vision recognition of the actual stop sign by theforward-facing camera and/or by the vehicle coming to a stop and/or fromGPS data on location of stop signs and/or other signs).

Optionally, the detection of the sign or signs along the road on whichthe vehicle is traveling may be GPS-assisted. For example, a GPS ornavigation system may be used in fusion with the machine vision systemor may be used in isolation to detect or alert the driver as to thepresence of the signs. For example, as the vehicle travels along a road,the global positioning system may determine when the vehicle isapproaching a sign (such as by comparing the then current geographicallocation of the vehicle to a known or programmed or stored geographicallocation of known signs), and the system may display the sign (or imageor iconistic representation thereof) to alert the driver as to thepresence of the sign ahead of the vehicle.

In the illustrated embodiments, the interior rearview mirror assemblyincludes or houses the video display screen, which is disposed withinthe mirror casing and behind the reflective element. Optionally, themirror reflective element may comprise a transflective mirror reflectorsuch that the video display screen is operable to display information orimages for viewing by the driver or other occupant or occupants of thevehicle through the transflective mirror reflector of the reflectiveelement when the video display screen device is operated to displayinformation and/or video images, and is substantially not viewable ordiscernible through the transflective mirror reflector of the reflectiveelement when not operated to display information and/or video images, asdiscussed below. Optionally, the video display screen may be disposedelsewhere within the cabin of the vehicle, such as at or in an accessorymodule of the vehicle or windshield electronics module of the vehicle oran overhead console of the vehicle or the like, while remaining withinthe spirit and scope of the present invention.

The video display screen device or module may comprise any type of videoscreen and is operable to display images in response to an input orsignal from a control or imaging system. For example, the video displayscreen may comprise a multi-pixel liquid crystal module (LCM) or liquidcrystal display (LCD), preferably a thin film transistor (TFT)multi-pixel liquid crystal video display (such as discussed below), orthe screen may comprise a multi-pixel organic electroluminescent videodisplay or a multi-pixel light emitting diode (LED) video display, suchas an organic light emitting diode (OLED) or inorganic light emittingdiode display or the like, or an electroluminescent (EL) video display,or the like. For example, the video display screen may comprise a videoscreen of the types disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,370,983; 7,338,177;7,274,501; 7,255,451; 7,195,381; 7,184,190; 6,902,284; 6,690,268;6,428,172; 6,420,975; 5,668,663 and/or 5,724,187, and/or U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005, which published onMar. 9, 2006 as U.S. Patent Publication No. US 2006/0050018; Ser. No.11/226,628, filed Sep. 14, 2005, which published on Mar. 23, 2006 asU.S. Patent Publication No. US 2006/0061008; Ser. No. 12/091,525, filedApr. 25, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,855,755; Ser. No. 12/578,732, filedOct. 14, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,487,144; Ser. No. 09/585,379, filedJun. 1, 2000, abandoned, and/or Ser. No. 10/207,291, filed Jul. 29, 2002and published Jan. 9, 2003 as U.S. Publication No. US-2003-0007261,and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US2010/25545, filed Feb. 26, 2010, whichpublished on Sep. 2, 2010 as International Publication No. WO2010/099416, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

The video display screen device may be in communication with or mayreceive an input or video signal (such as a NTSC video signal or thelike) from a corresponding imaging sensor or camera or imaging systemand may display the image or images provided by the input or signal onthe video display screen. Alternately, a video signal may be conveyed tothe mirror assembly or system as a digital signal. The video displayscreen device or an imaging or vision system of the vehicle may includea control, which may be in communication with the video display screenvia a wireless communication link or via an electrical connector orwiring or cable or the like. Optionally, the video signals may betransmitted via a vehicle communication bus or the like, such as anEthernet or the like of the vehicle.

Optionally, the rear backup video camera may comprise any suitable imagecapture device or camera, such as a video camera suitable for a lowresolution display, such as a VGA standard camera (such as a videocamera having around 0.3 Mega pixels resolution or the like). However,when the vision system includes a high resolution video display screen,it is preferred to use a high resolution video camera, such as a videocamera having 1 Mega pixels or greater pixel resolution (and such ashaving an addressable pixel density of at least about 2,000 pixels/cm²of addressable backlit video screen area, preferably an addressablepixel density of at least about 2,500 pixels/cm² of addressable backlitvideo screen area, and more preferably an addressable pixel density ofat least about 2,800 pixels/cm² or more of addressable backlit videoscreen area). Optionally, and preferably, the video feed from the videocamera to the high resolution video display may be carried by a highbaud rate or high video transmission rate communication link or datalink, such as a LVDS or an Ethernet link between the high resolutionvideo camera and the high resolution display screen and/or between thehigh resolution video camera and the likes of a DAS or surroundview/multi-camera ECU (such as by utilizing aspects of PCT ApplicationNo. PCT/US2010/025545, filed Feb. 26, 2010, which published on Sep. 2,2010 as International Publication No. WO 2010/099416, and/or PCTApplication No. PCT/US10/038477, filed Jun. 14, 2010 and published Dec.16, 2010 as International Publication No. WO 2010/144900, which arehereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties).

The control is operable to control the video display screen in responseto an input or signal, such as a signal received from one or morecameras or image sensors of the vehicle, such as a video camera orsensor, such as a CMOS imaging array sensor, a CCD sensor or the like,such as the types disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,677; 5,760,962;6,396,397; 6,097,023; 5,877,897 and 5,796,094, and/or U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/534,632, filed May 11, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No.7,965,336, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties, or from one or more imaging systems of the vehicle, such asa reverse or backup aid system, such as a rearwardly directed vehiclevision system utilizing principles disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.5,550,677; 5,760,962; 5,670,935; 6,201,642; 6,396,397; 6,498,620;6,717,610 and/or 6,757,109, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties, a trailer hitching aid or tow checksystem, such as the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,005,974, which ishereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, a cabin viewingor monitoring device or system, such as a baby viewing or rear seatviewing camera or device or system or the like, such as disclosed inU.S. Pat. Nos. 5,877,897 and/or 6,690,268, which are hereby incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties, a video communication device orsystem, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,690,268, which is herebyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety, and/or the like. Theimaging sensor or camera may be activated and the display screen may beactivated in response to the vehicle shifting into reverse, such thatthe display screen is viewable by the driver and is displaying an imageof the rearward scene while the driver is reversing the vehicle.

Optionally, the video display screen may be operable responsive to othercameras and/or navigation systems and/or the like, and may be operableat any time during operation of the vehicle. Thus, the video displayscreen may be operable during daytime and nighttime driving conditionsand may be operable when the variable reflectivity reflective element isdimmed or darkened. Thus, the intensity of the display may be adjustedto account for a reduced transmissivity of the reflective element.

Optionally, the video processor or video decoder may receive video feedsfrom multiple cameras at the equipped vehicle (such as a rearward facingcamera at the rear of the vehicle, one or more forward facing cameras atthe front of the vehicle (such as at the front fender or bumper of thevehicle) and one or more sideward facing cameras at the sides of thevehicle, such as at the side exterior rearview mirror assemblies of thevehicle) and may process the video image data and seamlessly merge theimage data or images in the multiple video feeds to generate, fordisplay on a single video display screen, a surround view or top-view orpanoramic view or “birds-eye” view of the area at and around theequipped vehicle, such as by utilizing aspects of the vision systemsdescribed in SAE Technical Paper 1999-01-0655, titled “PanoramicElectronic Rear Vision for Automotive Applications”, published Mar. 1,1999 by Rich Hicks, Ken Schofield, Paul Tarno and Mike Veiseh, and/orU.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/508,840, filed Jul. 24, 2009, andpublished Jan. 28, 2010 as U.S. Pat. Publication No. US 2010-0020170,and/or U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,592,928; 7,145,519; 7,161,616 and/or 5,670,935,which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Optionally, the video processor may generate graphic overlays and/orindicia and/or visual aids to assist the driver's interpretation and useof the surround view or similar image displayed on the single videodisplay (preferably this is a video mirror display such as described inU.S. Pat. Nos. 6,690,268; 6,902,284; 7,184,190; 7,195,381; 7,255,451;7,274,501; 7,338,177; 7,370,983; 7,490,007 and/or 7,540,620, and/or U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005, whichpublished on Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S. Patent Publication No. US2006/0050018; Ser. No. 12/091,525, filed Apr. 25, 2008, now U.S. Pat.No. 7,855,755, which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties, or the single video display may be a center stack orcenter console display or the like, such as is commonly used innavigation/infotainment systems). Optionally, an image processor orimage processing capability may be included in the video processor orvideo decoder chip, or may be provided as a separate chip such as viathe likes of an EYEQ2™ chip available from MobilEye of Jerusalem,Israel. The image processor so provided may be operable for machinevision analysis of the multiple video feeds/merged composite image so asto perform functions such as vehicle detection in the vicinity of theequipped vehicle, pedestrian detection in the vicinity of the equippedvehicle and/or object detection in the vicinity of the equipped vehicle.In the likes of a birds-eye or top-view surround vision display system,the video decoder may generate an iconistic or cartoon-likerepresentation of the equipped vehicle in a central dead space of thedisplayed image, with the top-view/birds-eye view merged video imagesdisplayed therearound so that the driver of the equipped vehicle canreadily discern the side views from the front and rear views and therear view from the front view. The video processor may receive the videofeeds from the multiple cameras via any link or communication means,such as via a twisted wire cable carrying standard video analog formats(such as NTSC or PAL or the like), or may receive digital signals suchas via an LVDS protocol or an Ethernet protocol or via a MOST fiberoptical link or the like.

Optionally, and desirably, the intensity or brightness or contrast ofthe video display screen may be automatically adjusted in response to anambient light sensor or glare detector, such as a sensor of the displayscreen device, or of the interior rearview mirror assembly or vehicle orof a console or module or the like, such as the types disclosed in U.S.Pat. Nos. 4,793,690 and/or 5,193,029, which are hereby incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties. In applications where thedisplay screen device is implemented with an electro-optic orelectrochromic mirror reflective element assembly, the display screendevice may be automatically adjusted in response to the ambient lightsensor or glare detector associated with the electro-optic orelectrochromic circuitry or system. The display intensity of the displayscreen may be adjusted in response to the photo sensor or light sensor,and may be increased during daytime lighting conditions and reduced atdusk or during nighttime lighting conditions. The intensity and/orcontrast and/or brightness of the display may be substantiallycontinuously adjusted or may be adjusted intermittently or in steps inresponse to the light sensor or sensors, such as by utilizing aspects ofthe displays described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,370,983; 5,416,313 and5,285,060, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/091,525, filedApr. 25, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,855,755, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Optionally, the video display screen may be operable to adjust theintensity of the displayed images in response to a degree of dimming ofthe electro-optic (such as electrochromic) reflective element of themirror assembly. The video display screen thus may be adjustedresponsive to an output signal of the glare light sensor or an output ofthe mirror reflective element dimming circuitry or the like. Forexample, as the reflective element is dimmed or darkened (such as inresponse to a detection of glare light at the mirror assembly) to reduceglare to the driver of the vehicle, the video display screen may beautomatically brightened. Desirably, the video display screen isbrightened relative to the degree of dimming so that the displayedimages remain at a substantially constant intensity as viewed by thedriver of the vehicle, so that the increasing/decreasing intensity ofthe video display is not readily discernible to the driver of thevehicle. Such an automatic intensity adjustment function is particularlysuitable for a video display screen that may be operable in response tovarious camera inputs and/or navigation system inputs and/or the like,and not only responsive to a rear vision camera (where the dimmingcontrols are typically deactivated when the vehicle is shifted into areverse gear).

In such an application, the mirror dimming control may still beinhibited when the vehicle is shifted into a reverse gear, but will beactive during other driving conditions, and the video display screenwill also be active during reverse and forward driving conditions. Thus,when the video decoder (that may be part of the video display device ormodule) determines that there is a valid video signal, the video decodermay communicate to the mirror microprocessor to activate the back lightof the display module, and the mirror circuitry and/or display circuitrymay adjust the intensity of the video display screen in response to adetected ambient lighting condition and a detected glare lightingcondition (and/or in response to a degree of dimming of the reflectiveelement as set by the mirror circuitry). As the mirror reflectiveelement is dimmed or darkened, the video display screen may re-brightenthe video display intensity based on the EC coloring or dimmingpercentage in front of the video display screen. Likewise, as the mirrorreflective element is bleached or undimmed, the video mirror displayscreen may reduce its intensity accordingly.

Desirably, the video mirror display screen emits light that is brightenough to be readily viewable and discernible during high ambientlighting conditions, such as are typically encountered on a sunny day.Preferably, the video mirror display luminance (and especially for a TFTLCD display element showing video or full color video or still images)is greater than about 500 candelas per square meter (cd/m²), morepreferably greater than about 1,000 cd/m², and more preferably greaterthan about 1,500 cd/m² as viewed by the driver viewing the transflectivemirror reflector of the transflective mirror reflective element that thevideo display is disposed behind and is emitting light therethrough.This is to help ensure that the driver can discern any video image beingdisplayed against the sunlight streaming in through the rear window andincident at the display screen at the interior mirror assembly that willtend to wash-out the video image unless the video image is sufficientlybright. Optionally, and preferably, the display screen may utilizeaspects of the display element described in U.S. patent application Ser.No. 12/091,525, filed Apr. 25, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,855,755, whichis hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Conventionally, a video system may include a decoder for receiving anddecoding video signals from the cameras or image sensors, and the videosystem further includes a connection or communication of the signals toa microprocessor of the video display device. The likes of conventionalprismatic video mirrors typically utilize a two board approach with twoseparate processors: one processor on the video display screen device ormodule (typically, the video display device is provided as a liquidcrystal video screen device or module or LCM with integratedbacklighting and various brightness enhancing means) and anotherprocessor on the printed circuit board or circuit element or mirrorboard or mirror PCB. The processor on the mirror PCB may be operable tocontrol various functions, such as the video display dimming, the powersupply to the video display device module, the human-machine interface(HMI) switch for turning the video display on/off, and to provideprotection and regulated power supply to the video display module andback light.

Optionally, the present invention may provide a multi-feature ormulti-function video decoder that includes a microprocessor built intothe package and with “OSD” (On Screen Display) capability. Thus, thecontrol circuitry on the mirror circuit element or PCB may be moved intothe decoder and thus combine the display module circuit element or PCBdecoder electronics with the mirror circuit element or PCB electronics.Such combined circuitry can eliminate the need for an additionalprocessor on the mirror PCB and will combine all feature control intothe decoder. This saves system cost, improves EMC, reduces the PCB sizeand gives enhanced or full control of the video mirror system to oneprocessor.

Optionally, such a combined circuitry decoder may include additionalenhancement to the existing decoder chip so that the decoder may alsocontrol the dimming of a variable reflectivity reflective element orelectro-optic or electrochromic reflective element. This would eliminatethe mirror EC PCB assembly and would combine all the mirror electronicson a single or common circuit element or PCB that would have the decodercontrol all the video and reflective element dimming features.

For example, a decoder, such as a Techwell 8817 decoder available fromTechwell Inc. of San Jose, CA, or other suitable decoder, may bedisposed at a video display screen and may receive standard videosignals, such as NTSC signals or PAL signals or the like, from one ormore cameras of the vehicle. The decoder may decode the NTSC signals andmay digitize the signals and send the digital signal to the displayscreen or TFT LCD screen. The decoder provides on screen display (OSD)capabilities and may provide other signals or messages with the videofeed to the video screen. Such a Techwell 8817 decoder provides a highlyintegrated low cost TFT flat panel display controller supporting digitalpanels (that may support a wide variety of digital single pixel activematrix TFT panels and may support 3, 4 and 6 bits per pixel format andthe like). The decoder may integrate a SECAM/NTSC/PAL video decodersupporting composite video, CVBS and S-Video inputs, an 8-bitmicroprocessor control unit (MCU), a cold cathode fluorescent lamp(CCFL) controller and a backlighting LED controller. The decoder mayintegrate a high quality NTSC/PAL/SECAM 2D video decoder and a 2Dde-interlacer/scaler. The decoder may support analog inputs includingCVBS & S-Video signals, and may support digital panel up to SVGAresolution or the like, and may have an integrated 8-bit 8051microprocessor control unit (MCU), a CCFL controller and a backlightingLED controller. The decoder may have built-in 8 color font based OSDwith about 200 ROM and 75 RAM fonts, and may support multi-color fontsby combining three single color fonts. The decoder may include embeddedimage enhancement, such as programmable CTI, hue, brightness,saturation, contrast and sharpness control, black/white stretch,programmable favorite color enhancement—up to three colors (such asskin, grass and sky or the like), and programmable gamma correctiontable and/or the like.

Optionally, such a decoder (such as a Techwell 8817 Decoder or the like)may be implemented with a video screen for a prismatic video mirrorapplication. For example, the decoder may have a microprocessor and/orother data processing resources, such as memory, converters (such as A/Dconverters and/or the like), and/or CAN/LIN controllers and/or the like,incorporated into the same integrated circuit chip or package and mayinclude OSD capability too. Thus, as well as functioning as a decoder,the same chip or package can provide intelligence/dataprocessing/control for another function/functions oraccessory/accessories in the mirror assembly, such as automatic dimmingcontrol of an antiglare electrochromic rearview mirror and/or intensitycontrol of display backlighting, such as responsive to a photosensor ofthe interior rearview mirror assembly. Current prismatic video mirrorsmay utilize a two board approach with two separate processors (oneprocessor may be on the mirror PCB in order to control the video displaydimming, power supply to the LCM or display screen, the HMI Switch forturning the video display ON/OFF and/or supply protection and regulatedpower supply to the LCM or video display screen and back light.

For example, such a decoder 210, such as the Techwell 8817 Decoder, andwith reference to FIG. 26 , may include a board or substrate 212 withcircuitry established thereon, including a video decoder 214 (thatreceives the standard video signal or NTSC signal, and that may provideadvanced synchronization processing and may include two 10-bit ADCs andanalog clamping circuit, built-in analog anti-aliasing filter, fullyprogrammable static gain or automatic gain control for the Y or CVBSchannel, programmable white peak control for the Y or CVBS channel,software selectable analog inputs, digital phase-locked loop (PLL) forboth color and horizontal locking, automatic color control and colorkiller and the like), a built-in microcontroller (that may supportexternal a serial peripheral interface (SPI) bus and/or an I²C masterinterface with a general purpose input/output (GPIO), and may support2LED signal interface with GPIO, and may support a universalasynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) interface with GPIO and maysupport IR or interrupt with GPIO), a CCFL controller 216 (such as asingle channel CCFL controller based on push-pull architecture, withanalog or digital brightness control and a low power standby mode), OSDcircuitry 218 (such as built-in font OSD with 202 ROM and programmable227 RAM fonts, with multi-window OSD support with color pallet andsupport for OSD overlay with alpha blending), image enhancementcircuitry 220 (which may include a built-in 2D de-interlacing engine 222and a high quality scalar 224, and may provide programmable hue,brightness, saturation, contrast, sharpness control with verticalpeaking, programmable color transient improvement control,panorama/water-glass scaling, programmable Gamma correction tables,black/white stretch, programmable favorite color enhancement and thelike), and an LED controller 226 (for controlling the backlighting LEDsof the TFT backlit video display, and with DC and pulse width modulation(PWM) dimming control and built-in open LED protection and 1 MHz fixedswitching frequency and resistor-programmable LED current). The decodermay also include other circuitry as desired or appropriate depending onthe particular application of the decoder and video display module. Thedecoder may support a two-wire serial bus interface for interfacing witha bus system or network of the vehicle.

Thus, the Techwell decoder may control many features of a video displayscreen, such as, for example, a 3.51 inch or thereabouts, 16:9 aspectratio, video display screen of an interior video mirror. The Techwelldecoder is a low cost highly integrated TFT flat panel controller fordigital displays with an on board 8-bit 8051 microprocessor control unit(MCU) and On Screen Display capability built in to the decoder. TheTechwell decoder application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chipdecodes the analog NTSC video signal and sets up the registers tocontrol the digital panel. Preferably, an external microprocessor is notrequired or used because the on board 8-bit 8051 MCU is used to do thecommunication, computations, and input/output (I/O) control for theelectrochromic mirror (EC) drive, video display backlighting control andoptical sensing for the ambient and glare photo sensors. The 8-bit 8051MCU is also used as the human machine interface (HMI) for any switchesand the reverse inhibit signal as well as the EC indicator control. Thebacklighting control is an algorithm based thermal management systemthat reads at least two thermistors that are strategically placed closeto the backlighting LEDs. The dimming curve utilizes multiple dimmingsteps (such as at least about 25 dimming steps, more preferably at leastabout 50 dimming steps, and more preferably at least about 100 dimmingsteps) and is responsive to the glare and ambient photo sensor inputs aswell as responsive to the on board thermistors to control the heatmanagement of the system. The Techwell decoder has On Screen Display(OSD) capability which allows for rudimentary graphics display orgraphics overlay superimposed on moving video images from one or morecameras on the vehicle. Full alpha blending and multiple graphic windowregions allows for reconfigurable high quality graphics to enhance andexpand the number of ways that the display can be used.

The Techwell decoder thus provides TFT display control, including ananalog video decoder, scalar and panel control. The backlighting controlprovides dimming control, backlighting on/off control, thermistor inputfor thermal management (such as 2 on the backlighting PCB, such as acircuit element or board or substrate with the backlighting LEDsdisposed thereat). The electrochromic (EC) mirror drive control isoperable to drive or control the EC mirror cell of an insideelectrochromic mirror assembly and may drive or control the EC mirrorcell or cells of one or two exterior electrochromic mirror assemblies ofthe vehicle. The I²C communication for optical sensing may utilize anambient photo sensor and a glare photo sensor. The On Screen Display(OSD) capability of the decoder supports multi-color fonts, has multiwindow OSD support with color pallet, and supports OSD overlay withalpha blending. The input/output control has a reverse inhibit input, anelectrochromic mirror on/off switch input and an electrochromic mirrorindicator LED output. The software running on the decoder mayaccommodate an external memory, such as about 1 Meg of external memory(or more or less).

The present invention thus moves control circuitry, such as, forexample, a microprocessor and allied circuitry associated with ECdimming of the mirror element, that is currently on the mirror printedcircuit board or PCB into the decoder and combines the video displaymodule or LCM PCB decoder electronics with at least a portion of themirror PCB electronics into a single unitary integrated circuit or chipor package. Such combination and incorporation of the electronics onto asingle decoder board limits or substantially precludes the need for anadditional processor on the mirror PCB and combines all feature controlinto the decoder. The present invention thus reduces system cost,improves EMC, reduces PCB size and may provide full control of the videomirror system to one processor.

Optionally, the decoder of the present invention may be used in anelectrochromic (EC) video mirror assembly. For example, the abovedescribed decoder may be carried over and with additional enhancement tothe existing decoder chip could be a viable solution to also control theEC feature utilizing the decoder too. Such a configuration may limit orsubstantially preclude or eliminate the mirror EC PCB assembly and maycombine all electronics on a single circuit element or board or PCB,whereby the decoder may control all the video and EC features.

Thus, the decoder of the present invention may be readily attached to orconnected to a video display module or screen, such as at the rear ofthe display module. The decoder may be electrically connected to thewire or wires from the camera/cameras and to any other wires of themirror assembly, whereby the decoder is ready for operation. The decoderthus provides video decoding functions and on screen display functionsin a single decoder board. The NTSC (or other standard video input orsignal) thus is received by the decoder and is decoded by the decoder,whereby the OSD of the decoder may generate the display signal to thevideo screen and may send the video display images by themselves or maymix the video signal/images with other display information, such asgraphic overlays or textual information or iconistic display informationor the like.

For example, the decoder may control the video display screen to displayvideo images of a scene captured by one or more cameras of the vehicle,and may generate a graphic overlay that is electronically generated andsuperimposed on the video image by the decoder. Optionally, the decodermay function to display on the video display other messages or signalsfor viewing by the driver of the vehicle. For example, the decoder mayfunction to display camera status information, EC dimming statusinformation, toll information and toll payment card status information,blind spot detection or object detection information, directionalheading information, fuel gauge status information, telephone callstatus information or other telematics system information, vehicle fluidlevel status information, seat belt status information, tire pressureinformation, directional heading and/or temperature information, and/orthe like, such as by utilizing aspects of the display systems describedin U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/578,732, filed Oct. 14, 2009, nowU.S. Pat. No. 9,487,144, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US2010/25545,filed Feb. 26, 2010, which published on Sep. 2, 2010 as InternationalPublication No. WO 2010/099416, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

Typically, a backlit video screen utilized in an interior rearviewmirror that utilizes a transflective reflector is provided as a packageor module that typically has a 2.4 inch to 4.3 inch diagonal dimension(typically around 3.5 inches) and an aspect ratio of width to height ofabout 4:3 or about 15:9 or 16:9, and typically has an active area ofaround 72 mm wide and 53 mm high for a typical 3.5 inch diagonal screenwith a 4:3 aspect ratio, with around 70,000-80,000 or thereabouts TFT(thin film transistor) RGB (red, green, blue) pixel resolution, or atypical 16:9 aspect ratio screen may have an active area of around 71 mmwide and 43 mm high, with around 96,000 or thereabouts TFT RGB pixelresolution. The video screen module or package has a circuit board andits control circuitry disposed at a rear of the package or module, suchas by utilizing aspects of U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,004,593 and 7,370,983, whichare hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.Preferably, the circuitry required for operation of the display itself(including the video decoding and control of the backlighting and/or thelike) and of the associated rearview mirror (such as electrochromicdimming and/or the like) is established on a printed circuit board orequivalent that attaches at the rear of the video display screen moduleor package and is roughly dimensioned to be the same as or close to thesize and shape of the video display screen module or package.

Thus, and with reference to FIG. 27 , the vision and display system 10of the present invention includes a rear or reversing video camera 12, avideo processor 18 and a video display screen 16. The video display 16may comprise a backlit TFT LCD video display screen, and may be backlitby a plurality of white light-emitting light emitting diodes or LEDs 19.The video processor 18 may comprise a video processor ASIC, and mayinclude the video decoder, scalar, overlay and microcontroller and thelike as discussed above. The video processor may control the dimming ofthe electrochromic mirror reflective element 20 b of the interiorrearview mirror assembly, such as via an EC drive 30 or the like, andsuch as in response to a forward photo sensor 32 a and a rear photosensor 32 b (such as via an I²C bus or the like). Optionally, and withreference to FIG. 28 , the video processor ASIC 18′ may control theelectrochromic mirror reflective element or cell 20 b via the EC drive30 responsive to a microcontroller 34, which may be responsive to theforward and rear photo sensors 32 a, 32 b, while remaining within thespirit and scope of the present invention. The video display screen andbacklighting LEDs and video processor may all be part of or incorporatedin a video module that may be disposed at or in the interior rearviewmirror assembly of the vehicle equipped with the vision and displaysystem, and the video module may communicate with or receive videosignals from the rear camera 12 via a vehicle bus, such as a LIN bus oran Ethernet link or the like of the equipped vehicle.

Thus, the decoder may decode the video signal and may provide OSDcapability and EC control capability, and may receive inputs fromsensors (such as imaging sensors or photosensors or the like), and mayreceive switch inputs and may control various accessories in response tothe user inputs or switch inputs. The decoder may share or access photosensors to control the dimming of the display. The decoder thus providesa highly integrated TFT flat panel display controller at a reduced cost,and integrates a microprocessor in the single circuit element or boardor chip. The decoder may provide UART capability, I²C capability, SPIcapability and/or the like. Optionally, the decoder may include atransceiver or the like and the decoder may connect to or link to a LINnode of a network system of the vehicle.

As vehicle mechanical and electrical technology improves, the vehiclelife cycles are increasing in duration while the life cycles of consumerproduct electronic devices are decreasing in duration. Thus, conflictsexist between the consumer's desire to have a vehicle that will last along time and their desire to enjoy the latest consumer product featuresthroughout the life cycle of their vehicle. The outputs of most, if notall, consumer electronics products are sensory in nature in that theoutputs can be seen, heard and/or felt by the consumer, while theirinputs are primarily touch and/or audible inputs. While the sensorysystems of vehicles are mature, the content and interfacing aspects ofproducts continue to improve. Thus, the vehicle may include anupgradeable interface device or system or feature that will allow theconsumer to upgrade or replace the interface device to accommodatecommunication with new consumer products and/or the like. Optionally,and desirably, the upgradeable interface device may comprise an interiorrearview mirror assembly, which may be coupled to the vehiclearchitecture and may be removable and replaceable and upgradable (inwhole or in part) to provide enhanced and upgraded communicationtechnology for use with consumer products in the vehicle.

Conventionally, interior rearview mirror assemblies are supplied to anautomobile manufacturer as a complete interior rearview mirror assemblythat may be replaced in whole due to warranty failure or the like, andtypically the interior rearview mirror assembly is configured andintended for use over the lifetime of the vehicle without being upgradedor enhanced. In accordance with the present invention, components and/orcircuitry (such as electronic components and/or antennae and/or thelike) of the interior rearview mirror assembly may be replaced orupgraded, or the entire interior rearview mirror assembly may bereplaced or upgraded, to provide enhanced/upgraded communication withthe latest in wireless technology products that a consumer may purchaseand use in the vehicle. Optionally, the upgradeable system of thepresent invention may utilize aspects of the mirror assemblies describedin U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/861,904, filed Sep. 26, 2007, nowU.S. Pat. No. 7,937,667, and/or Ser. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun. 13,2005, which published on Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S. Patent Publication No. US2006/0050018, and/or U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,012,727; 6,902,284; 6,648,477;6,428,172; 6,026,162 and/or 5,940,503, which are all hereby incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties.

Typically, the interior rearview mirror assembly as installed in thevehicle as initially manufactured is the interior rearview mirrorassembly utilized throughout the life of the vehicle, which may be aperiod of up to ten years or more. During that period, the vehiclemanufacturer (such as, for example, Ford or Chrysler or General Motors)may have brought forward and/or developed new or upgraded mirror-basedfeatures that are not present in the particular interior rearview mirrorassembly originally installed in the vehicle. However, the interiorrearview mirror assembly of the present invention is designed andconstructed to anticipate and/or accommodate such an event. In theinventive interior rearview mirror assembly, the owner may purchase anew or upgraded module or plug-in (such as from an aftermarket supplieror from the vehicle manufacturer) and may replace the existing module orfeature (with an upgraded one) or may install the new module in theinterior rearview mirror assembly (such as via a plug-in attachment orthe like). Thus, the owner does not have to replace the entire interiorrearview mirror assembly (the mirror casing, mirror mounting structureand the reflective element or cell of the interior rearview mirrorassembly are likely not changing over the vehicle lifetime and would notrequire replacement), but may selectively and at-will add new orupgraded features without replacing the interior rearview mirrorassembly.

Optionally, the interior rearview mirror assembly of the vehicle may bein communication with a display or video display (such as a display withtouch and/or audio interfacing aspects and utilizing aspects of thedisplays discussed above), and the display may be in communication withother vehicle systems or accessories, such that the mirror assembly orportions thereof may be replaced to provide upgraded content andtechnology, such as for wireless connectivity (such as for example, baudrate, photocell and/or the like). For example, and with reference toFIG. 29 , an interior rearview mirror system 310 includes an interiorrearview mirror assembly 312, which is in communication with adisassociated display device 314 (such as a video display deviceoperable to display video images), which in turn is in communication orconnection with one or more other vehicle systems and/or accessories316. The mirror assembly 312 may include wireless connectivity featuresfor wireless communication with one or more vehicle accessories orsystems and/or consumer accessories or systems. By replacing the mirrorassembly 312 with a new or upgraded mirror assembly (such as an upgradedmirror assembly having enhanced or latest technology in wirelessconnectivity and the like), the electronics systems and/or accessoriesat or in the vehicle may be upgraded or added, while the mirror assemblyand accessory systems of the vehicle may be adapted to communicate withsuch new features or technology.

In the illustrated embodiment, interior rearview mirror assembly 312 isdetachably attached or mounted at an interior portion of a vehicle (suchas via attachment of a mounting base to a windshield mounted mirrormounting button that is adhered to an in-cabin surface of the vehiclewindshield), and is in communication (such as via a wireless orhardwired communication link 318) with display device 314. Thecommunication between the mirror assembly content and the display devicemay be via hardwired connection and/or wireless communication. Thedisplay device is in communication with one or more vehicle systems oraccessories 316 (such as via hardwired connection or wirelesscommunication link 320). The display device 314 is disassociated fromthe mirror assembly and is not incorporated into the mirror assembly,and includes touch and/or audio interface aspects and interfaces withthe interior rearview mirror assembly 312, which can provide the latesttechnology for wireless connectivity.

Thus, it is desirable to incorporate interfacing features in areplaceable and upgradeable mirror assembly (or in replaceable andupgradeable components and/or circuitry of a mirror assembly) so that,by replacing the interior rearview mirror assembly with an upgraded ornewer mirror assembly (or by replacing the components and/or circuitryof the mirror assembly with upgraded or newer components and/orcircuitry) having enhanced or the latest interface technology, theconsumer may readily upgrade his or her vehicle to communicate with andinterface with the latest in consumer product technology. The hard wiredconnection to the vehicle systems or accessories is mature technologyand would not require upgrading to accommodate new consumer producttechnologies and the like. Thus, with an interior rearview mirrorassembly of the present invention connected to a disassociated displaydevice, the vehicle can be continually upgraded by changing the mirrorassembly or components and/or circuitry thereof (with the newreplacement mirror assembly or components/circuitry of the mirrorassembly containing the latest technology in wireless connectivity). Theupgraded mirror assemblies and/or components/circuitry thereof may beprovided as aftermarket mirror assemblies or attachments or the like,and may be customized to provide the desired content and/or connectivityand/or appearance and/or functionality, such as desired by the consumeror owner of the vehicle.

Optionally, the mirror assembly may comprise an electro-optic orelectrochromic mirror assembly and may include an electro-optic orelectrochromic reflective element. The electrochromic mirror element ofthe electrochromic mirror assembly may utilize the principles disclosedin commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,690,268; 5,140,455; 5,151,816;6,178,034; 6,154,306; 6,002,544; 5,567,360; 5,525,264; 5,610,756;5,406,414; 5,253,109; 5,076,673; 5,073,012; 5,117,346; 5,724,187;5,668,663; 5,910,854; 5,142,407 and/or 4,712,879, and/or PCT ApplicationNo. PCT/US2010/029173, filed Mar. 30, 2010 and published Oct. 7, 2010 asInternational Publication No. WO 2010/114825, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties, and/or asdisclosed in the following publications: N. R. Lynam, “ElectrochromicAutomotive Day/Night Mirrors”, SAE Technical Paper Series 870636 (1987);N. R. Lynam, “Smart Windows for Automobiles”, SAE Technical Paper Series900419 (1990); N. R. Lynam and A. Agrawal, “Automotive Applications ofChromogenic Materials”, Large Area Chromogenics: Materials and Devicesfor Transmittance Control, C. M. Lampert and C. G. Granquist, EDS.,Optical Engineering Press, Wash. (1990), which are hereby incorporatedby reference herein in their entireties; and/or as described in U.S.Pat. No. 7,195,381, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference inits entirety. Optionally, the electrochromic circuitry and/or a glaresensor (such as a rearward facing glare sensor that receives light fromrearward of the mirror assembly and vehicle through a port or openingalong the casing and/or bezel portion and/or reflective element of themirror assembly) and circuitry and/or an ambient light sensor andcircuitry may be provided on one or more circuit boards of the mirrorassembly. The mirror assembly may include one or more other displays,such as the types disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,530,240 and/or6,329,925, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties, and/or display-on-demand transflective type displays, suchas the types disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,274,501; 7,255,451;7,195,381; 7,184,190; 5,668,663; 5,724,187 and/or 6,690,268, and/or inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/226,628, filed Sep. 14, 2005, whichpublished on Mar. 23, 2006 as U.S. Patent Publication No. US2006/0061008, and/or Ser. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005, whichpublished on Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S. Patent Publication No. US2006/0050018, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US03/29776, filed Sep. 9,2003, and published Apr. 1, 2004 as International Publication No. WO2004/026633, which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties. The thicknesses and materials of the coatings on thesubstrates, such as on the third surface of the reflective elementassembly, may be selected to provide a desired color or tint to themirror reflective element, such as a blue colored reflector, such as isknown in the art and such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,910,854;6,420,036 and/or 7,274,501, and in PCT Application No. PCT/US03/29776,filed Sep. 9, 2003, and published Apr. 1, 2004 as InternationalPublication No. WO 2004/026633, which are all hereby incorporated hereinby reference in their entireties.

Optionally, the interior rearview mirror assembly may comprise aprismatic mirror assembly or a non-electro-optic mirror assembly or anelectro-optic mirror assembly (such as an electrochromic mirror assemblyor a liquid crystal mirror assembly). For example, the interior rearviewmirror assembly may comprise a prismatic mirror assembly, such as thetypes described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,249,860; 6,318,870; 6,598,980;5,327,288; 4,948,242; 4,826,289; 4,436,371 and 4,435,042, and PCTApplication No. PCT/US2004/015424, filed May 18, 2004, and published onDec. 2, 2004, as International Publication No. WO 2004/103772, which arehereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Optionally,the prismatic reflective element may comprise a conventional prismaticreflective element or prism or may comprise a prismatic reflectiveelement of the types described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,420,756; 7,274,501;7,249,860; 7,338,177 and/or 7,255,451, and/or PCT Application No.PCT/US03/29776, filed Sep. 19, 2003, and published Apr. 1, 2004 asInternational Publication No. WO 2004/026633, and/or PCT Application No.PCT/US2004/015424, filed May 18, 2004, and published on Dec. 2, 2004, asInternational Publication No. WO 2004/103772, which are all herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties, without affectingthe scope of the present invention. A variety of mirror accessories andconstructions are known in the art, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat.Nos. 5,555,136; 5,582,383; 5,680,263; 5,984,482; 6,227,675; 6,229,319and 6,315,421 (the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporatedby reference herein), that can benefit from the present invention.

Optionally, the multi-pixel TFT reconfigurable video display screenand/or mirror may include user interface inputs, such as buttons orswitches or touch or proximity sensors or the like, with which a usermay adjust one or more characteristics of the imaging sensor and/orimaging system, such as via the principles described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/091,525, filed Apr. 25, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No.7,855,755, and/or Ser. No. 11/239,980, filed Sep. 30, 2005, now U.S.Pat. No. 7,881,496, and/or U.S. provisional applications, Ser. No.60/614,644, filed Sep. 30, 2004; Ser. No. 60/618,686, filed Oct. 14,2004, and Ser. No. 60/628,709, filed Nov. 17, 2004, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Optionally, theimages captured by the imaging sensor or camera may be processed by thecontrol to extract information or data for different applications orsystems, such as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/239,980, filed Sep. 30, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,881,496, and/orU.S. provisional application, Ser. No. 60/618,686, filed Oct. 14, 2004,which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

The control of the mirror assembly and/or the display screen may receiveimage data or the like from an imaging sensor or camera positionedelsewhere at or on or in the vehicle, such as at a forward or sidewardportion of the vehicle with a forward or sideward exterior field ofview, or such as at an interior portion (such as at or near orassociated with the interior rearview mirror assembly or an accessorymodule or windshield electronics module or the like) of the vehicle withan interior field of view (such as into the vehicle cabin) or anexterior field of view (such as forwardly of and through the windshieldof the vehicle). The signal from the camera or image data may becommunicated to the control via various communication links or videotransmission medium, such as wires or cables (such as a CAT-3 shieldedtwisted pair wire or a CAT-5 coaxial cable or the like) or a fiber opticcable or via wireless communication, such as IR signals or VHF or UHFsignals or the like, or via a multiplex bus system of the vehicle or thelike. For example, the connection or link between the imaging sensor orcontrols and the mirror assembly and/or display screen module may beprovided via vehicle electronic or communication systems and the like,and may be connected via various protocols or nodes, such as BLUETOOTH®,SCP, UBP, J1850, CAN J2284, Fire Wire 1394, MOST, LIN, FlexRay™, ByteFlight and/or the like, or other vehicle-based or in-vehiclecommunication links or systems (such as WIFI and/or IRDA), or viawireless communications such as VHF or UHF signals, and/or the like,depending on the particular application of the mirror/display system andthe vehicle.

The imaging sensor or camera may provide various image data signals,such as an NTSC signal or LVDS, Ethernet, PAL, analog RGB, componentvideo, SECAM, S-video or the like. Optionally, the imaging system may beoperable to selectively switch between, for example, PAL and NTSC, toadjust the imaging system and mirror/display system to accommodateEuropean and U.S. applications.

The interior rearview mirror assembly may include a bezel portion andcasing, such as described above, or the mirror assembly may compriseother types of casings or bezel portions or the like, such as describedin U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,338,177; 7,249,860; 6,439,755; 4,826,289 and6,501,387, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US2004/015424, filed May 18,2004, and published on Dec. 2, 2004, as International Publication No. WO2004/103772, which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties, without affecting the scope of the present invention.For example, the mirror assembly may comprise a flush or frameless orbezelless reflective element, such as the types described in U.S. Pat.Nos. 7,690,824; 7,626,749; 7,360,932; 7,274,501; 7,255,451 and/or7,184,190, and/or in PCT Application No. PCT/US2004/015424, filed May18, 2004, and published on Dec. 2, 2004, as International PublicationNo. WO 2004/103772; PCT Application No. PCT/US03/35381, filed Nov. 5,2003, and published May 21, 2004 as International Publication No. WO2004/042457, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US2010/032017, filed Apr.22, 2010 and published Oct. 28, 2010 as International Publication No. WO2010/124064, and/or in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/226,628,filed Sep. 14, 2005, which published on Mar. 23, 2006 as U.S. PatentPublication No. US 2006/0061008, and/or Ser. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun.13, 2005, which published on Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S. Patent Publication No.US 2006/0050018, which are all hereby incorporated herein by referencein their entireties.

Optionally, the mirror assembly may comprise a modular mirrorconstruction, and may include back housing portions or the like, such ascap portions of the types described in PCT Application No.PCT/US2004/015424, filed May 18, 2004, and published on Dec. 2, 2004, asInternational Publication No. WO 2004/103772, which is herebyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The display screen maybe provided as a modular display screen and may be mountable orinstallable in the appropriate or suitable mirror casing to provide amodular mirror assembly and display screen. For example, a rear casingor cap portion may include the display screen module including theassociated components, such as the rails and motor and the like, and maybe attachable to a reflective element and/or bezel portion to assemblethe modular mirror assembly. The display screen module thus may beprovided as an optional component or accessory for a vehicle, and may bereadily assembled to a common reflective element and/or bezel portion ofthe mirror assembly.

Optionally, the mirror casing and/or reflective element, and/or thedisplay screen casing and/or display screen may include customized orpersonalized viewable characteristics, such as color or symbols orindicia selected by the vehicle manufacturer or owner of the vehicle,such as the customization characteristics described in U.S. Pat. Nos.7,255,451 and/or 7,626,749, and/or PCT Application No.PCT/US2004/015424, filed May 18, 2004, and published on Dec. 2, 2004, asInternational Publication No. WO 2004/103772, and/or U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/243,783, filed Oct. 5, 2005, published Apr. 20,2006 as U.S. Pat. Publication No. US 2006-0082192, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties. For example, theframe or casing of the display module and/or the mirror assembly may beselected to have a desired color or combination of colors (or text orprint or indicia thereon) to personalize the appearance of the mirrorassembly. Optionally, the reflective element may include text or symbolsor icons or other characters or indicia to provide a desired appearanceor message at the mirror assembly or display screen, such as byutilizing aspects of the mirror assembly described in U.S. Pat. No.7,626,749 and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US2004/015424, filed May 18,2004, and published on Dec. 2, 2004, as International Publication No. WO2004/103772, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/243,783, filedOct. 5, 2005, published Apr. 20, 2006 as U.S. Pat. Publication No. US2006-0082192, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties. The icons or characters or indicia may be formed at or nearor on the display screen, or may be provided via graphic overlays whenthe display screen is extended and operating, or may otherwise be formedor provided at or on or in the display screen casing or frame, withoutaffecting the scope of the present invention. Optionally, the bezel orframe color or colors may be selected to be designer colors or may matchor contrast the color of the mirror casing, and/or may have logos oricons or other indicia thereon. Optionally, the display screen modulemay include warnings or other statements or alerts or messages printedor otherwise formed on the bezel or frame portion of the display screenso that the messages or the like are readily viewable when the displayscreen is extended.

Optionally, the mirror assembly and/or prismatic or electrochromicreflective element may include one or more displays, such as for theaccessories or circuitry described herein. The displays may be similarto those described above, or may be of types disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.5,530,240 and/or 6,329,925, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties, and/or may be display-on-demand ortransflective type displays, such as the types disclosed in U.S. Pat.Nos. 7,581,859; 7,338,177; 7,195,381; 6,690,298; 5,668,663 and/or5,724,187, and/or in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/226,628, filedSep. 14, 2005, which published on Mar. 23, 2006 as U.S. PatentPublication No. US 2006/0061008, and/or Ser. No. 12/091,525, filed Apr.25, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,855,755, and/or in PCT Application No.PCT/US03/29776, filed Sep. 19, 2003, and published Apr. 1, 2004 asInternational Publication No. WO 2004/026633, which are all herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Optionally, aprismatic reflective element may comprise a display on demand ortransflective prismatic element (such as described in PCT ApplicationNo. PCT/US03/29776, filed Sep. 19, 2003, and published Apr. 1, 2004 asInternational Publication No. WO 2004/026633, and/or U.S. Pat. No.7,338,177, which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties) so that the displays are viewable through thereflective element, while the display area still functions tosubstantially reflect light, in order to provide a generally uniformprismatic reflective element even in the areas that have displayelements positioned behind the reflective element.

Optionally, the display and any associated user inputs may be associatedwith various accessories or systems, such as, for example, a tirepressure monitoring system or a passenger air bag status or a garagedoor opening system or a telematics system or any other accessory orsystem of the mirror assembly or of the vehicle or of an accessorymodule or console of the vehicle, such as an accessory module or consoleof the types described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,877,888; 6,824,281;6,690,268; 6,672,744; 6,386,742 and 6,124,886, and/or PCT ApplicationNo. PCT/US03/03012, filed Jan. 31, 2003, and published Aug. 7, 2003 asInternational Publication No. WO 03/065084, and/or PCT Application No.PCT/US03/40611, filed Dec. 19, 2003, and published Jul. 15, 2004 asInternational Publication No. WO 2004/058540, and/or PCT Application No.PCT/US04/15424, filed May 18, 2004, and published on Dec. 2, 2004, asInternational Publication No. WO 2004/103772, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Optionally, the user inputs of the mirror assembly or display or modulemay comprise other types of buttons or switches for controlling oractivating/deactivating one or more electrical accessories or devices ofor associated with the mirror assembly. The mirror assembly may compriseany type of switches or buttons, such as touch or proximity sensingswitches, such as touch or proximity switches of the types describedabove, or the inputs may comprise other types of buttons or switches,such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,527,403 and/or 7,253,723,which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties,or such as fabric-made position detectors, such as those described inU.S. Pat. Nos. 6,504,531; 6,501,465; 6,492,980; 6,452,479; 6,437,258 and6,369,804, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties. For example, the inputs may comprise a touch or proximitysensor of the types commercially available from TouchSensorTechnologies, LLC of Wheaton, IL. The touch or proximity sensor may beoperable to generate an electric field and to detect the presence of aconductive mass entering the field. When a voltage is applied to thesensor, the sensor generates the electric field, which emanates throughany dielectric material, such as plastic or the like, at the sensor.When a conductive mass (such as a person's finger or the like, or metalor the like) enters the electric field, the sensor may detect a changein the field and may indicate such a detection. Other types of switchesor buttons or inputs or sensors may be incorporated to provide thedesired function, without affecting the scope of the present invention.

Optionally, the user inputs or buttons may comprise user inputs for agarage door opening system, such as a vehicle based garage door openingsystem of the types described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,396,408; 6,362,771;7,023,322 and 5,798,688, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties. The user inputs may also or otherwisefunction to activate and deactivate a display or function or accessory,and/or may activate/deactivate and/or commence a calibration of acompass system of the mirror assembly and/or vehicle. The compass systemmay include compass sensors and circuitry within the mirror assembly orwithin a compass pod or module at or near or associated with the mirrorassembly. Optionally, the user inputs may also or otherwise compriseuser inputs for a telematics system of the vehicle, such as, forexample, an ONSTAR® system as found in General Motors vehicles and/orsuch as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,862,594; 4,937,945; 5,131,154;5,255,442; 5,632,092; 5,798,688; 5,971,552; 5,924,212; 6,243,003;6,278,377; 6,420,975; 6,477,464; 6,946,978; 7,308,341; 7,167,796;7,004,593 and/or 6,678,614, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US03/40611,filed Dec. 19, 2003, and published Jul. 15, 2004 as InternationalPublication No. WO 2004/058540, and/or PCT Application No.PCT/US03/308877, filed Oct. 1, 2003, and published Apr. 15, 2004 asInternational Publication No. WO 2004/032568, which are all herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Optionally, the mirror assembly may include one or more otheraccessories at or within the mirror casing, such as one or moreelectrical or electronic devices or accessories, such as antennas,including global positioning system (GPS) or cellular phone antennas,such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,552, a communication module,such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,798,688, transmitters and/orreceivers, such as a garage door opener or the like, a digital network,such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,798,575, a high/low headlampcontroller, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,796,094 and/or5,715,093, a memory mirror system, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.5,796,176, a hands-free phone attachment, a video device for internalcabin surveillance and/or video telephone function, such as disclosed inU.S. Pat. Nos. 5,760,962 and/or 5,877,897, a remote keyless entryreceiver, lights, such as map reading lights or one or more other lightsor illumination sources, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,690,268;5,938,321; 5,813,745; 5,820,245; 5,673,994; 5,649,756; 5,178,448;5,671,996; 4,646,210; 4,733,336; 4,807,096; 6,042,253; 5,669,698;7,195,381; 6,971,775 and/or 7,249,860, microphones, such as disclosed inU.S. Pat. Nos. 6,243,003; 6,278,377; 6,420,975 and/or 7,657,052, and/orPCT Application No. PCT/US03/30877, filed Oct. 1, 2003, and publishedApr. 15, 2004 as International Publication No. WO 2004/032568, speakers,antennas, including global positioning system (GPS) or cellular phoneantennas, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,552, a communicationmodule, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,798,688, a voice recorder,transmitters and/or receivers, such as for a garage door opener or avehicle door unlocking system or the like (such as a remote keylessentry system), a digital network, such as described in U.S. Pat. No.5,798,575, a high/low headlamp controller, such as a camera-basedheadlamp control, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,796,094 and/or5,715,093, a memory mirror system, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.5,796,176, a hands-free phone attachment, an imaging system orcomponents or circuitry or display thereof, such as an imaging and/ordisplay system of the types described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,526,103;7,400,435; 6,690,268 and/or 6,847,487, and/or U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/239,980, filed Sep. 30, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,881,496,provisional application Ser. No. 60/618,686, filed Oct. 14, 2004, avideo device for internal cabin surveillance (such as for sleepdetection or driver drowsiness detection or the like) and/or videotelephone function, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,760,962 and/or5,877,897, a remote keyless entry receiver, a seat occupancy detector, aremote starter control, a yaw sensor, a clock, a carbon monoxidedetector, status displays, such as displays that display a status of adoor of the vehicle, a transmission selection (4wd/2wd or tractioncontrol (TCS) or the like), an antilock braking system, a road condition(that may warn the driver of icy road conditions) and/or the like, atrip computer, a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) receiver (suchas described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,124,647; 6,294,989; 6,445,287;6,472,979; 6,731,205 and/or 7,423,522, and/or U.S. provisionalapplication, Ser. No. 60/611,796, filed Sep. 21, 2004), and/or anONSTAR® system, a compass, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.5,924,212; 4,862,594; 4,937,945; 5,131,154; 5,255,442 and/or 5,632,092,an alert system and/or components or elements thereof (such as describedin PCT Application No. PCT/US2010/25545, filed Feb. 26, 2010, whichpublished on Sep. 2, 2010 as International Publication No. WO2010/099416, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety), and/or any other accessory or circuitry or the like (with allof the above-referenced patents and PCT and U.S. patent applicationsbeing commonly assigned, and with the disclosures of the referencedpatents and patent applications being hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties).

Optionally, the accessory or accessories, such as those described aboveand/or below, may be positioned at or within the mirror casing and maybe included on or integrated in a printed circuit board positionedwithin the mirror casing, such as along a rear surface of the reflectiveelement or elsewhere within a cavity defined by the casing, withoutaffecting the scope of the present invention. The user actuatable inputsand/or touch sensors and/or proximity sensors and displays describedabove may be actuatable to control and/or adjust the accessories of themirror assembly/system and/or overhead console and/or accessory moduleand/or vehicle. The connection or link between the controls and thedisplay screen device and/or the navigation system and/or other systemsand accessories of the mirror system may be provided via vehicleelectronic or communication systems and the like, and may be connectedvia various protocols or nodes, such as BLUETOOTH®, SCP, UBP, J1850, CANJ2284, Fire Wire 1394, MOST, LIN, FlexRay™, Byte Flight and/or the like,or other vehicle-based or in-vehicle communication links or systems(such as WIFI and/or IRDA) and/or the like, or via VHF or UHF or otherwireless transmission formats, depending on the particular applicationof the mirror/accessory system and the vehicle. Optionally, theconnections or links may be provided via various wireless connectivityor links, without affecting the scope of the present invention.

Changes and modifications in the specifically described embodiments maybe carried out without departing from the principles of the presentinvention, which is intended to be limited only by the scope of theappended claims as interpreted according to the principles of patentlaw.

1. A vehicular vision system, said vehicular vision system comprising: avideo display screen operable to display video images; wherein saidvideo display screen is disposed in an interior electrochromic rearviewmirror assembly of a vehicle equipped with said vehicular vision system;wherein said video display screen is disposed behind a transflectivemirror reflector of a transflective electrochromic mirror reflectiveelement of said interior electrochromic rearview mirror assembly;wherein video images displayed at said video display screen are viewableby a driver of the equipped vehicle when the driver is driving theequipped vehicle; wherein, when said video display screen is notoperating to display video images, presence of said video display screenbehind the transflective mirror reflector of the transflectiveelectrochromic mirror reflective element is covert; wherein, when saidvideo display screen is not operating to display video images, mirrorreflectance functionality is available to the driver at a region of thetransflective mirror reflector of the transflective electrochromicmirror reflective element of said interior electrochromic rearviewmirror assembly that the video display screen is disposed behind;wherein said video display screen comprises a left display region at aleft portion of said video display screen and a right display region ata right portion of said video display screen; wherein said video displayscreen comprises a middle display region at a middle portion of saidvideo display screen; wherein said middle display region spans betweensaid left display region and said right display region; arearward-viewing color video camera disposed at a rear portion of theequipped vehicle; said rearward-viewing color video camera comprising aCMOS imaging array sensor; wherein image data captured by saidrearward-viewing color video camera is provided by said rearward-viewingcolor video camera to said interior electrochromic rearview mirrorassembly as digital signals carried by a coaxial cable connecting saidrearward-viewing color video camera with said interior electrochromicrearview mirror assembly; wherein said interior electrochromic rearviewmirror assembly comprises electronic circuitry; wherein the electroniccircuitry of said interior electrochromic rearview mirror assemblycomprises (i) auto dimming circuitry operable to electrically adjustreflectivity of the transflective electrochromic mirror reflectiveelement and (ii) video processing circuitry operable to process imagedata captured by said rearward-viewing color video camera carried asdigital signals by the coaxial cable connecting said rearward-viewingcolor video camera with said interior electrochromic rearview mirrorassembly; and wherein, during forward travel of the equipped vehicle,and responsive to processing of image data at the video processingcircuitry, said video display screen is operable to (i) display at saidleft display region video images derived, at least in part, from imagedata captured by said rearward-viewing color video camera in order todisplay a scene occurring in a left side traffic lane at a left side ofthe equipped vehicle where another vehicle may overtake the equippedvehicle, (ii) display at said right display region video images derived,at least in part, from image data captured by said rearward-viewingcolor video camera in order to display a scene occurring in a right sidetraffic lane at a right side of the equipped vehicle where anothervehicle may overtake the equipped vehicle and (iii) display at saidmiddle display region video images derived, at least in part, from imagedata captured by said rearward-viewing color video camera in order todisplay a scene occurring rearward of the equipped vehicle in thetraffic lane the equipped vehicle is travelling in.
 2. The vehicularvision system of claim 1, wherein said video display screen comprises athin film transistor liquid crystal screen, and wherein said thin filmtransistor liquid crystal screen is backlit by at least one whitelight-emitting light emitting diode.
 3. The vehicular vision system ofclaim 2, wherein said thin film transistor liquid crystal screen isbacklit with a backlighting intensity of at least 30,000 candelas/squaremeter.
 4. The vehicular vision system of claim 2, comprising dynamiccontrast control of said video display screen, and wherein said videodisplay screen is operable to display multiple video image frames, andwherein said dynamic contrast control is operable to increase contrastwithin individual video image frames.
 5. The vehicular vision system ofclaim 2, wherein the video processing circuitry comprise a videoprocessor operable to provide on screen display capability.
 6. Thevehicular vision system of claim 2, wherein the video processingcircuitry comprise a video processor operable to at least partiallycontrol display intensity of said video display screen.
 7. The vehicularvision system of claim 1, wherein said rearward-viewing color videocamera is centrally disposed at the rear portion of the equippedvehicle.
 8. The vehicular vision system of claim 7, wherein saidrearward-viewing color video camera has a field of view of at least 180degrees.
 9. The vehicular vision system of claim 8, wherein, when saidvideo display screen is operating to display video images, said videodisplay screen provides a contrast ratio of greater than 350:1.
 10. Thevehicular vision system of claim 8, wherein said video display screen isoperable to display video images having an intensity of at least 1,000candelas per square meter as viewed by the driver through thetransflective mirror reflector of the transflective electrochromicmirror reflective element of said interior electrochromic rearviewmirror assembly.
 11. The vehicular vision system of claim 1, wherein,during forward travel of the equipped vehicle, and when said videodisplay screen displays the scene occurring at the left side trafficlane at said left display region of said video display screen, saidvideo display screen displays an icon to enhance the driver's cognitiveawareness of the displayed scene.
 12. The vehicular vision system ofclaim 1, wherein said coaxial cable comprises a CAT-5 coaxial cable. 13.The vehicular vision system of claim 1, wherein said rearward-viewingcolor video camera has a field of view of at least 180 degrees.
 14. Thevehicular vision system of claim 13, wherein auto dimming circuitry andvideo processing circuitry are disposed on a common printed circuitboard.
 15. The vehicular vision system of claim 14, wherein saidrearward-viewing color video camera is centrally disposed at the rearportion of the equipped vehicle.
 16. The vehicular vision system ofclaim 15, wherein said rearward-viewing color video camera comprises arear backup camera.
 17. A vehicular vision system, said vehicular visionsystem comprising: a video display screen operable to display videoimages; wherein said video display screen is disposed in an interiorelectrochromic rearview mirror assembly of a vehicle equipped with saidvehicular vision system; wherein said video display screen is disposedbehind a transflective mirror reflector of a transflectiveelectrochromic mirror reflective element of said interior electrochromicrearview mirror assembly; wherein video images displayed at said videodisplay screen are viewable by a driver of the equipped vehicle when thedriver is driving the equipped vehicle; wherein, when said video displayscreen is not operating to display video images, presence of said videodisplay screen behind the transflective mirror reflector of thetransflective electrochromic mirror reflective element is covert;wherein, when said video display screen is not operating to displayvideo images, mirror reflectance functionality is available to thedriver at a region of the transflective mirror reflector of thetransflective electrochromic mirror reflective element of said interiorelectrochromic rearview mirror assembly that the video display screen isdisposed behind; wherein said video display screen comprises a leftdisplay region at a left portion of said video display screen and aright display region at a right portion of said video display screen;wherein said video display screen comprises a middle display region at amiddle portion of said video display screen; wherein said middle displayregion spans between said left display region and said right displayregion; a rearward-viewing color video camera disposed at a rear portionof the equipped vehicle; said rearward-viewing color video cameracomprising a CMOS imaging array sensor; wherein image data captured bysaid rearward-viewing color video camera is provided by saidrearward-viewing color video camera to said interior electrochromicrearview mirror assembly as digital signals carried by a shieldedtwisted pair wire connecting said rearward-viewing color video camerawith said interior electrochromic rearview mirror assembly; wherein saidinterior electrochromic rearview mirror assembly comprises electroniccircuitry; wherein the electronic circuitry of said interiorelectrochromic rearview mirror assembly comprises (i) auto dimmingcircuitry operable to electrically adjust reflectivity of thetransflective electrochromic mirror reflective element and (ii) videoprocessing circuitry operable to process image data captured by saidrearward-viewing color video camera carried as digital signals by theshielded twisted pair wire connecting said rearward-viewing color videocamera with said interior electrochromic rearview mirror assembly; andwherein, during forward travel of the equipped vehicle, and responsiveto processing of image data at the video processing circuitry, saidvideo display screen is operable to (i) display at said left displayregion video images derived, at least in part, from image data capturedby said rearward-viewing color video camera in order to display a sceneoccurring in a left side traffic lane at a left side of the equippedvehicle where another vehicle may overtake the equipped vehicle, (ii)display at said right display region video images derived, at least inpart, from image data captured by said rearward-viewing color videocamera in order to display a scene occurring in a right side trafficlane at a right side of the equipped vehicle where another vehicle mayovertake the equipped vehicle and (iii) display at said middle displayregion video images derived, at least in part, from image data capturedby said rearward-viewing color video camera in order to display a sceneoccurring rearward of the equipped vehicle in the traffic lane theequipped vehicle is travelling in.
 18. The vehicular vision system ofclaim 17, wherein said video display screen comprises a thin filmtransistor liquid crystal screen, and wherein said thin film transistorliquid crystal screen is backlit by at least one white light-emittinglight emitting diode.
 19. The vehicular vision system of claim 18,wherein said thin film transistor liquid crystal screen is backlit witha backlighting intensity of at least 30,000 candelas/square meter. 20.The vehicular vision system of claim 18, comprising dynamic contrastcontrol of said video display screen, and wherein said video displayscreen is operable to display multiple video image frames, and whereinsaid dynamic contrast control is operable to increase contrast withinindividual video image frames.
 21. The vehicular vision system of claim18, wherein the video processing circuitry comprise a video processoroperable to provide on screen display capability.
 22. The vehicularvision system of claim 18, wherein the video processing circuitrycomprise a video processor operable to at least partially controldisplay intensity of said video display screen.
 23. The vehicular visionsystem of claim 17, wherein said rearward-viewing color video camera iscentrally disposed at the rear portion of the equipped vehicle.
 24. Thevehicular vision system of claim 23, wherein said rearward-viewing colorvideo camera has a field of view of at least 180 degrees.
 25. Thevehicular vision system of claim 17, wherein, during forward travel ofthe equipped vehicle, and when said video display screen displays thescene occurring at the left side traffic lane at said left displayregion of said video display screen, said video display screen displaysan icon to enhance the driver's cognitive awareness of the displayedscene.
 26. The vehicular vision system of claim 25, wherein, when saidvideo display screen is operating to display video images, said videodisplay screen provides a contrast ratio of greater than 350:1.
 27. Thevehicular vision system of claim 25, wherein said video display screenis operable to display video images having an intensity of at least1,000 candelas per square meter as viewed by the driver through thetransflective mirror reflector of the transflective electrochromicmirror reflective element of said interior electrochromic rearviewmirror assembly.
 28. The vehicular vision system of claim 17, whereinsaid shielded twisted pair wire comprises a CAT-3 shielded twisted pairwire.
 29. The vehicular vision system of claim 17, wherein saidrearward-viewing color video camera has a field of view of at least 180degrees.
 30. The vehicular vision system of claim 29, wherein autodimming circuitry and video processing circuitry are disposed on acommon printed circuit board.
 31. The vehicular vision system of claim30, wherein said rearward-viewing color video camera is centrallydisposed at the rear portion of the equipped vehicle.
 32. The vehicularvision system of claim 31, wherein said rearward-viewing color videocamera comprises a rear backup camera.
 33. A vehicular vision system,said vehicular vision system comprising: a video display screen operableto display video images; wherein said video display screen is disposedin an interior electrochromic rearview mirror assembly of a vehicleequipped with said vehicular vision system; wherein said video displayscreen is disposed behind a transflective mirror reflector of atransflective electrochromic mirror reflective element of said interiorelectrochromic rearview mirror assembly; wherein video images displayedat said video display screen are viewable by a driver of the equippedvehicle when the driver is driving the equipped vehicle; wherein, whensaid video display screen is not operating to display video images,presence of said video display screen behind the transflective mirrorreflector of the transflective electrochromic mirror reflective elementis covert; wherein, when said video display screen is not operating todisplay video images, mirror reflectance functionality is available tothe driver at a region of the transflective mirror reflector of thetransflective electrochromic mirror reflective element of said interiorelectrochromic rearview mirror assembly that the video display screen isdisposed behind; wherein said video display screen comprises a leftdisplay region at a left portion of said video display screen and aright display region at a right portion of said video display screen;wherein said video display screen comprises a middle display region at amiddle portion of said video display screen; wherein said middle displayregion spans between said left display region and said right displayregion; a rearward-viewing color video camera disposed at a rear portionof the equipped vehicle; said rearward-viewing color video cameracomprising a CMOS imaging array sensor; wherein image data captured bysaid rearward-viewing color video camera is provided by saidrearward-viewing color video camera to said interior electrochromicrearview mirror assembly as digital signals; wherein said interiorelectrochromic rearview mirror assembly comprises electronic circuitry;wherein the electronic circuitry of said interior electrochromicrearview mirror assembly comprises (i) auto dimming circuitry operableto electrically adjust reflectivity of the transflective electrochromicmirror reflective element and (ii) video processing circuitry operableto process image data captured by said rearward-viewing color videocamera carried as digital signals from said rearward-viewing color videocamera to said interior electrochromic rearview mirror assembly; whereinauto dimming circuitry and video processing circuitry are disposed on acommon printed circuit board; and wherein, during forward travel of theequipped vehicle, and responsive to processing of image data at thevideo processing circuitry, said video display screen is operable to (i)display at said left display region video images derived, at least inpart, from image data captured by said rearward-viewing color videocamera in order to display a scene occurring in a left side traffic laneat a left side of the equipped vehicle where another vehicle mayovertake the equipped vehicle, (ii) display at said right display regionvideo images derived, at least in part, from image data captured by saidrearward-viewing color video camera in order to display a sceneoccurring in a right side traffic lane at a right side of the equippedvehicle where another vehicle may overtake the equipped vehicle and(iii) display at said middle display region video images derived, atleast in part, from image data captured by said rearward-viewing colorvideo camera in order to display a scene occurring rearward of theequipped vehicle in the traffic lane the equipped vehicle is travellingin.
 34. The vehicular vision system of claim 33, wherein said videodisplay screen is operable to display video images having an intensityof at least 1,000 candelas per square meter as viewed by the driverthrough the transflective mirror reflector of the transflectiveelectrochromic mirror reflective element of said interior electrochromicrearview mirror assembly.
 35. The vehicular vision system of claim 34,wherein said video display screen comprises a thin film transistorliquid crystal screen, and wherein said thin film transistor liquidcrystal screen is backlit by at least one white light-emitting lightemitting diode and wherein said thin film transistor liquid crystalscreen is backlit with a backlighting intensity of at least 30,000candelas/square meter.
 36. The vehicular vision system of claim 34,wherein said digital signals are carried by a coaxial cable connectingsaid rearward-viewing color video camera with said interiorelectrochromic rearview mirror assembly.
 37. The vehicular vision systemof claim 36, wherein said rearward-viewing color video camera iscentrally disposed at the rear portion of the equipped vehicle.
 38. Thevehicular vision system of claim 37, wherein the video processingcircuitry comprise a video processor operable to provide on screendisplay capability.
 39. The vehicular vision system of claim 37, whereinthe video processing circuitry comprise a video processor operable to atleast partially control display intensity of said video display screen.40. The vehicular vision system of claim 36, wherein saidrearward-viewing color video camera has a field of view of at least 180degrees.
 41. The vehicular vision system of claim 40, wherein saidcoaxial cable comprises a CAT-5 coaxial cable.
 42. The vehicular visionsystem of claim 40, wherein said rearward-viewing color video cameracomprises a rear backup camera.
 43. The vehicular vision system of claim34, wherein said digital signals are carried by a twisted wire pairconnecting said rearward-viewing color video camera with said interiorelectrochromic rearview mirror assembly.
 44. The vehicular vision systemof claim 43, wherein said rearward-viewing color video camera iscentrally disposed at the rear portion of the equipped vehicle.
 45. Thevehicular vision system of claim 44, wherein said twisted wire paircomprises a CAT-3 twisted wire pair.
 46. The vehicular vision system ofclaim 43, wherein said rearward-viewing color video camera has a fieldof view of at least 180 degrees.
 47. The vehicular vision system ofclaim 43, wherein the video processing circuitry comprise a videoprocessor operable to provide on screen display capability.
 48. Thevehicular vision system of claim 43, wherein the video processingcircuitry comprise a video processor operable to at least partiallycontrol display intensity of said video display screen.
 49. Thevehicular vision system of claim 33, wherein, during forward travel ofthe equipped vehicle, and when said video display screen displays thescene occurring at the left side traffic lane at said left displayregion of said video display screen, said video display screen displaysan icon to enhance the driver's cognitive awareness of the displayedscene.